Avenge and Conquer
by arikylo
Summary: The Alliance has fallen into a very well laid trap and now Luke has no choice but to hand himself over to Vader. But what does the father have in store for the son? Can Luke handle the torture and the ruthless tactics of the Empire or will he be forced to surrender and embrace the dark side? (Dark!AU set after ESB. Rated T for violence.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just a little bit of background info before we begin. This is set almost a year after the events at Bespin. Han is frozen in carbonite and is being taken to Jabba the Hutt. Lando and Chewie are in the Falcon and are off searching for Han. Luke and Leia are with the Alliance. **

**This is an au story so it does not follow the canon storyline after the Empire Strikes Back or the EU (although I may end up using a few characters from it).**

**Obviously, Star Wars does not belong to me. I do, however, own the few planets and OCs that I invented for this story.**

**I don't have a beta reader so my apologies if there are any mistakes. I checked it as best as I could. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>People were rushing around like crazy as Luke strode swiftly down one of the corridors of Home One. There were small red lights flashing on the walls and a voice on the intercom crackling out the required preparations for their impending jump to lightspeed.<p>

Luke rounded a corner and almost crashed straight into a young, dark-haired man in a pilot's jumpsuit who was looking incredibly lost and panic stricken. The man apologised profusely as he jumped out of Luke's way and continued to apologise as Luke rushed down the hallway, not even looking back. But before he rounded yet another corner, Luke paused and glanced back at the pilot who was standing helplessly in the middle of the corridor.

"That way!" he yelled, pointing to one of the side corridors further down. The man gave Luke a smile and rushed off in the direction of the hangar bay, mumbling rounds of thanks as he went.

Luke lingered a moment, hoping the pilot would be okay. He remembered how nervous he had felt the first time he'd flown for the Alliance. The first time was always the worst, but some people just weren't cut out for the kind of pressure such short notice attacks created. Or at least he assumed they were heading for battle. It would be good to find out.

Luke turned himself around and continued on his path, not having to go very far before he swerved into a side room - and once again almost crashed into a number of very busy looking people. At least one of them was familiar this time.

"Leia!" Luke exclaimed as he caught the brunette by the arm. "What's going on?"

"We've received a distress signal from Arka III," Leia explained quickly as they moved over to the main table in the centre of the command room. "We believe it to be from one of our scout groups returning from a mission to Tatooine. The signal implies an Imperial ambush. We're going to help them out."

"Wait a moment," Luke said, holding up a hand and trying to take in all the information he had just been fed at rapid pace. "Arka III? I didn't realise our scout groups were stopping over in that sector."

"They weren't," Leia replied grimly. "Although their preprogrammed hyperspace jump would have led them past there. The Imperials must have used an Interdictor cruiser to pull them out of hyperspace."

"But -" Luke sputtered.

"- that would mean the Imperials knew the route of our ships," Leia finished, pulling up some files on her datapad. "Yes, we know. It's troubling news and it's got everyone in a panicked frenzy."

"Well, that's certainly true," Luke muttered, eyeing the people in the room scrambling around for datapads and other equipment. Some were speaking rapidly into commlinks and others were rushing in and out of the door, obviously carrying important messages to and from other parts of the ship. "So, what's our plan of attack?"

"We'll be making the jump to hyperspace in about…" Leia paused to check the time on her datapad. "Ten minutes. Full attack formation. It won't take us long to get there. The signal was received not too long ago so we're assuming the scouts will still be engaged with the Imperials."

"I see," Luke murmured, picking up a datapad and eyeing the planned course to Arka III. It would take them roughly twelve minutes from their current position to reach the planet and their scout group via hyperspace.

"And speaking of time," Leia said quickly, putting a hand on Luke's arm and guiding him towards the door. "You should be getting to your X-Wing, Rogue Leader."

"Of course," Luke muttered as he stumbled out of the doorway and back into the busy traffic of the corridor.

Leia turned to face him and gave him a small smile. "Good luck and stay safe, Luke," she whispered, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You too," Luke replied, before heading in the direction of the hangar bay and hoping that someone had started preparing his X-Wing for him.

.

.

.

Luke leaned back in his seat as he watched the stars streak past him, quickly evolving into the mottled blue colour of hyperspace. The jump had been made just in time and they were now blazing straight for Arka III and, most likely, a vicious space battle against the Empire.

Luke chewed absently on his lip as he gazed straight ahead, letting his eyes glaze over and allowing the Force to take him. There was peace in the mystical energy formed from the presence of all living things. It was harder to feel in hyperspace, but it was there nonetheless. It calmed his mind and, soon enough, his body too. The levels of panic on Home One had been almost overwhelming and Luke had been relieved to finally jump into the cockpit of his starfighter, welcoming the solidarity like an old friend. He would've thought that by now the Alliance would have had these short notice jumps down pat. But, once again, he had been proven wrong and the Rebels had struggled to get their act together in time. Sometimes he wondered how the Alliance had even survived this long. It was probably because of Leia. She was always one of the few that could keep their heads clear whenever strife arose. Without Leia, the Alliance would have fallen long ago.

Artoo quickly warbled something, pulling Luke out of his meditation. He glanced at the screen for the translation, skimming the lines of glowing red font quickly. Only two more minutes until they reached their destination.

Luke looked up again at the dizzying pattern of hyperspace. There was a feeling at the back of his mind, gnawing at him, making him feel sick. Something about this was wrong. But he couldn't quite place what.

As he reached for the lever to pull the ship out of hyperspace, he mentally crossed his fingers and hoped that they could handle whatever they faced upon arrival.

Three… two… one. Luke pulled down on the lever and the blue swirls of hyperspace quickly transformed into a streaking starline before coming to an abrupt halt, revealing….

Nothing.

Luke frowned as he gazed ahead of him. There was literally nothing there except for the bright shimmering lights of far off stars flickering against the black of space and the round, green orb that was the planet Arka III. Luke did a double check of his scopes. Yep. Nothing there.

He flicked on his commlink. "Home One, this is Rogue Leader. Do you copy?"

The commlink crackled for a moment, then Leia's voice came through. "This is Home One. We copy. Luke, are your scopes negative as well?"

"All scopes are negative," Luke confirmed, doing a triple check of the equipment in front of him. "There's nothing here."

The commlink crackled again, although this time it was not Leia who spoke, but Admiral Ackbar. "All wings return to Home One. I repeat: return to Home One."

"Copy that." Luke flicked his commlink off and turned his ship in the direction of the large Mon Calamari cruiser.

Yes. Something definitely wasn't right here.

.

.

.

The doors slid open with a faint _whoosh_ and Luke once again stepped into the white-walled command room. The occupants of the room, to his mild surprise, were actually looking quite calm, although there were a few still rushing around transmitting messages to the rest of the squadron. Leia looked up as he entered and beckoned him over.

"What's going on?" he asked as he stood beside Leia at the table.

"To be honest, we don't know," came the gravelly voice of Admiral Ackbar. The Mon Calamari looked the most stressed out of the group surrounding the table. Through the Force, Luke could pick up on varying degrees of panic, stress and confusion emanating from the military commander. He could understand why. The situation was a mess, although it was not as bad as it could have been.

Luke picked up a datapad and examined the sensory data it was displaying as the Admiral continued to speak.

"All scopes are negative. There are no signs of any Imperial forces, let alone our scout group."

"What about beyond the horizon?" Luke asked, glancing up at Ackbar.

Ackbar shook his head. "As far as we can tell, Arka III's orbit is devoid of spaceships, although we're sending out a squadron to investigate. They should return within the hour."

Luke nodded, frowning down at the datapad. So, someone had sent out a distress signal claiming an Imperial attack and then vanished into thin air, along with the Imperial fleet? It just didn't make sense. Something wasn't right here and he knew it; that nagging feeling from the Force was back. They needed more information.

"You're sure the distress signal was one of ours?" Luke asked, putting the datapad back down on the table.

Leia nodded. "They were using the right code and frequency. We've double checked and triple checked. The signal definitely came from an Alliance ship and it definitely came from Arka III. We just don't know what happened to the ship and its crew."

Luke looked around the table, detecting a strong sense of unease and confusion from most people. Mon Mothma, who was situated next to Admiral Ackbar, looked deep in thought, her brows knitted and jaw tight. Admiral Ackbar was still emanating a great amount of panic and stress, but was doing a pretty good job of not showing it and Leia was being her typical self: calm, confident and clear minded, with a touch of annoyance thrown in due to the fact that they didn't know what was going on. Luke sighed. It was definitely a puzzle.

Behind him, the doors swished open again and a young cadet strode in, his military uniform looking a little disheveled, no doubt from the hectic events of earlier.

"Admiral Ackbar, sir," he said, waiting for an acknowledgement from the military commander. When he received it he stepped forward and continued speaking. "The scanning crews have picked up a signal coming from Arka III. They believe it to be our scout group who must have gone down during the attack."

He handed Ackbar a datapad. The Mon Calamari studied it furtively, then placed it down on the table and looked up to address the group. "We must find out what happened."

The others nodded.

"I suggest we send a small squad down to the surface to investigate," the Admiral continued. There was a slight murmur around the table, then nods of agreement.

Before Ackbar could continue speaking, Luke spoke up. "I'll go," he said. He didn't know what made him say it. It just felt right.

Ackbar nodded. "You would be well suited for the mission. Your skills will be required." He turned to Leia. "And I'm assuming you would like to accompany him, Your Highness?"

Leia nodded. Luke was about to protest but was cut off by a glare from Leia. It was her 'I'm fully capable of looking after myself and making my own decisions, thank you very much' look and Luke knew better than to argue with her when she was wearing it.

Ackbar turned his gaze back to Luke. "I will arrange for a small squadron to be sent down with you."

"No," Luke said quickly. "Just Leia and I - and Threepio and Artoo. We'll need their scanners. No one else."

It was Mon Mothma who spoke this time. "This is a dangerous operation, Commander Skywalker. We do not know what lies on the planet's surface. Without back up you could potentially endanger the mission and the lives of the scouts, not to mention yours and Leia's."

"I understand that," Luke replied. "But I have a strong feeling about this. I will not go down there with a squadron of troops. Leia and I can handle this quickly, quietly and efficiently. You can trust us to do that."

"I know we can," Mon Mothma replied. "So, this is your call, Commander. But know that it will be on your head if anything goes wrong. That scout group is made up of many important members of the Alliance - tacticians and technicians we cannot afford to lose. It will be your responsibility to bring them back safely."

Luke nodded. "I understand."

.

.

.

"I don't think Mon Mothma was too pleased with your decision about the mission," Leia said as she sat down next to Luke at the control panel of the shuttle. They were almost to the surface of Arka III and Leia could just begin to make out the green, swirling canopy below.

"I don't think anyone was too pleased," Luke murmured in response as he flicked a couple of switches and brought them smoothly through a layer of cloud. A continuous sea of forest opened up before them, clearer now that they had passed through most of the white clouds and mist of Arka III's atmosphere.

Leia hummed in agreement then was silent for a moment as she contemplated her next words. "To be honest, Luke, I don't know whether I'm too sure about your decision either."

Luke glanced at her quickly, his mouth open as if to speak but she cut him off to explain herself.

"It's not that I don't trust your decision," she said quickly. "I trust you with my life, Luke, and you know that. I just don't understand why."

Luke studied her for a moment and she wondered if he was using his Jedi abilities to gauge her honesty. It sometimes made her uncomfortable to know that he could sense how she was feeling. At least she had nothing to hide.

Luke turned back to the console, nodding slowly as he flicked a couple more switches and checked the dials. "I'm not quite sure I understand it either, Leia," he said quietly. "I just had this feeling like I knew it was the right thing to do."

They slipped into a not quite uncomfortable silence as Luke prepared them for landing. Arka III was so thickly covered in forest that the only place that they could safely land was a small clearing located a couple of kilometres from the crashed scout ship. That meant they had a fair bit of walking to do. Leia didn't really mind though. After all the diplomatic work she had been doing for the Alliance, she was quite looking forward to a bit of exercise and a nice view. The only thing that made her a bit apprehensive about the trip was the fact that Arka III was pretty much uncharted. More specifically, there were no records of native flora and fauna, meaning that there could be a number of dangerous creatures or plants out there that they wouldn't even know about.

Leia gritted her teeth. She had been through worse. And at least she had Luke to protect her. Not that she needed protecting, of course; she was fully capable of handling tough situations by herself. Although she had to admit that a Jedi would be much more useful than her diplomatic skills in this situation. She supposed her blaster might not be too much use either, but she strapped it in its holster on her hip nonetheless and chucked a couple of spare power packs in her knapsack before hooking her arm through the strap and slinging it on her back. She looked to Luke, who was doing the same thing.

"All ready?" she asked.

Luke nodded as he tightened the straps of his backpack and moved to the door of the shuttle. Leia sighed internally. He had been quiet ever since she had mentioned her uncertainty about his plan.

She hurried over to the door and put her hand over the release before Luke could get there. He looked at her questioningly when she didn't press it.

"Luke, before we go," she said, looking him in the eye, "I just want you to know that I have faith in you, and in your decision."

"I know you do," he responded quietly, turning to face the door.

"Then what troubles you?"

Luke sighed, dropping his head to his chest for a moment before turning to face her. "I just have a bad feeling about this," he said.

She frowned. "I thought you said this was the right thing to do."

"I did," Luke responded. "And I still believe it is. But my concerns are not about this mission. I've had a feeling about this entire operation ever since we received the distress signal from the scout group. Something's not right here, Leia, and I don't know what it is. That's what bothering me." He paused for a moment as if in deep thought, then his eyes shot straight to Leia's. "Whatever happens out there," he said, gesturing to the door and beyond, "is meant to happen. You must promise me that you'll do whatever I say."

"Luke -"

"Promise me, Leia," he said, his eyes glowing with a mix of emotions that she couldn't quite place. What did he know? What did he feel about this?

"Luke, I don't understand!" she cried.

He continued to stare at her intensely and as he did so, she noticed a particular emotion flutter to the surface: sadness. It was there, hidden in the glimmer of his eyes in the low lighting.

"Luke, what's going on?" she asked, starting to panic now. "What's going to happen? I - I don't understand!"

He reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. "I don't know," he whispered. "But whatever it is, you must promise me that you'll do as I say."

She continued to look at him, distraught.

"Please, Leia. Promise me."

She nodded, trying to regain control of her emotions. "I promise, Luke," she mumbled.

Luke smiled slightly, although it might have been a grimace warped by the poor lighting of the shuttle. Whatever it was, it was soon gone as Luke reached over and pressed the door release, the glint of sadness no longer present in his eyes but replaced by a calm confidence and grim determination. He looked at her again as the door swished open, then turned his focus on the outside world and climbed out of the shuttle.

Leia straightened her camouflage jacket and paused for a moment to compose herself, then followed Luke out of the shuttle.

She had a feeling she was going to regret this.

.

.

.

They were about a kilometre in when they ran into their first dilemma.

It seemed that astromech droids were not very well suited to forest travel, especially when said forest was littered with fallen trees, brambles and low-creeping vines, although those problems were easy enough to work through when a lightsaber was involved. No, the issue at the moment was that a certain R2 unit had fallen into a rather large hole and in his attempt to get out, had accidentally set a nearby tree on fire when he had ignited his jet propulsion system. Now there were at least three trees aflame and all were spewing out a noxious-looking, foul-smelling, black smoke.

Luke spluttered as he lifted the front of his poncho to cover his mouth, muttering a curse under his breath. Why hadn't Artoo just asked for his help? They could have avoided this entire disaster and been on their way in a matter of moments. But no. The little droid had once again been over-confident in his abilities and had attempted to free himself unaided.

Luke couldn't help but smile, though. Artoo had such character, and if that smoke wasn't so disorienting, he might have even laughed at the whole situation. He coughed again, harder this time. They really needed to put that fire out before it spread even further.

Artoo whistled and rolled towards the trees, now safely free of the hole. He extended a nozzle and began spraying the flaming trees with his in-built fire extinguisher. Threepio was standing some feet back, yabbering something at the droid but Luke's attention was elsewhere. Leia was crouched on the ground, searching through her backpack and coughing violently.

He rushed over to her and tried to drag her away from the rapidly spreading smoke, but was met with heavy resistance.

"Leia, this stuff's most likely toxic! You have to get out of here," he yelled urgently, pulling her to her feet. He snatched the water bottle from her hand that she had removed from her knapsack and pushed her lightly away from him. "I can handle this. Just get out of the smoke."

Leia coughed again and Luke thought she was going to refuse, but she just nodded slightly and started stumbling into the forest, still sputtering.

Luke turned again to the flaming trees, unscrewing the lid of the bottle and calming his mind with the Force. He took a few deep breaths, using the Force to cleanse his body of the poison and then started forward.

Artoo had already managed to put out one tree but his fire extinguisher was beginning to run low and kept faltering as it was aimed at the next tree. Luke stepped up beside him and threw the water from the bottle onto the trees, using the Force to spread it evenly across the vicious flames. It worked for the most part, but a few branches were still smouldering threateningly. Luke reached out with the Force and summoned his own water bottle from his bag. Being careful to not use all of the water, he put out the rest of the flames in a matter of seconds and then stepped back out of the reach of the smoke, which was still spreading rapidly.

Artoo chirped something at Luke, sounding oddly chipper for a droid who had just set multiple trees on fire and almost poisoned his companions. Luke shot him a glare, although it was hollow. He wasn't angry at Artoo, merely slightly irritated and still feeling a bit woozy from the smoke.

"You need to be more careful, Artoo," he chided. "You know you can ask for my help if you need it."

Artoo warbled something in return, his tones sounding mock offended.

"I don't care about your pride, Artoo. Especially if it endangers Leia and I."

Artoo's response was lower this time, apologetic.

"It's okay, Artoo," Luke responded with a smile, patting the astromech on the head. "I'm not angry at you. Just think before you act in the future, okay?"

Artoo's merry response was drowned out by the concerned tones of Threepio calling Luke's name.

"Master Luke," came the golden droid's voice from somewhere further into the forest. "It's Princess Leia! I believe she's fallen unconscious!"

Luke sprinted off into the forest, pausing only momentarily to collect their backpacks, in the direction of Threepio's voice. He arrived moments later to discover Leia sprawled out on the ground next to the trunk of a very large fallen tree. He dropped to his knees and reached out with the Force to assess her condition, laying a comforting palm on her forehead. She wasn't well, but she would survive. The noxious smoke had infiltrated her lungs and fogged her mind, most likely causing severe hallucinations and balance problems until she had passed out. If she had taken in any more of the poison she would probably be dead.

Luke gently rolled her onto her back and placed his palms over her chest, calming his mind and his body. Then, reaching out with the Force, he began to guide the excess smoke out of her lungs, replacing it with clean, fresh air. Leia coughed violently but did not wake. The poison was still in her system and would take some time to leave - time that they didn't have. If there were any Imperial forces on the planet then they would have been alerted to their position by the thick black smoke which was now rising above the tree tops. Luke gritted his teeth and delved deeper into the Force, letting his focus now lie on the poison flowing through Leia's bloodstream.

Luke opened his eyes suddenly and jerked away from Leia, falling roughly against the trunk of a tree. He looked around, confused. Something had pulled him from his meditative trance, but he couldn't figure out what.

He looked around again, frowning. The droids were standing a couple of metres away, watching him anxiously - well, as anxiously as droids could appear to be. It hadn't been them, so what _had _it been?

A cough came from in front of him and he quickly turned his gaze in the direction of Leia. She was starting to stir and as Luke reached out with the Force, he could feel that the poison was mostly gone. But he could also feel something else.

He glanced up slowly and motioned for the droids to remain quiet. Someone was coming. But not just one someone - lots of someones. Ten or more, approaching slowly from the direction of the smouldering trees and currently still out of sight. But not for much longer.

"Leia," Luke whispered, shaking her gently. "Leia, wake up."

She groaned quietly, eyelids fluttering for a moment before once again lying closed. She was regaining consciousness. Slowly. Too slow. Luke gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Leia," he whispered again, keeping his senses focused on the approaching band of people. He wasn't sure if they were Imperials or Rebels, but they certainly didn't seem to have good intentions; he could feel that as he touched their minds. "Leia, I have to go. There are people coming. They won't harm you, I promise, but I have to go. Trust me, Leia."

He paused a moment to brush some unruly strands of brown hair out of her face, hoping that he was right. Then he got up and turned away from Leia and the droids and the smoking trees and started heading into the forest.

"Master Luke!" Threepio called, as quietly as he could manage. "What about Artoo and I?"

Luke turned back to face them. "Stay with Leia," he whispered, before he disappeared into the forest.

Threepio turned quickly to Artoo. "Oh, Artoo! He's abandoned us!"

Artoo warbled something back, sounding particularly harsh.

"Well, I'm glad you have faith," Threepio muttered, laying a golden arm on the astromech's dome. "But it just doesn't look - Oh my! We're surrounded!"

And indeed they were.

.

.

.

Leia awoke to something hard jabbing her roughly in the ribs.

"Hey! Cut it out!" she snapped, sitting up quickly and dropping her hand to her blaster. But she stopped suddenly as she took in her current situation.

She was seated on the forest floor, her back pressed up against a fallen tree and surrounding her were ... the Rebel scouts! Dressed in camouflage uniforms, there were about ten or so of them forming a loose circle around her and the droids, with the exception of the one who had been poking her in the ribs. He had stepped back when she had awoken suddenly and now he was pointing his gun at her.

"It's okay," she murmured, raising a peaceful hand in his direction, but then her vision blurred and the world seemed to tilt. She blinked and rubbed her forehead. Now that the adrenaline of being startled awake had passed, she was beginning to feel a bit woozy. It must have been the smoke. The smoke…

Leia looked around but could not locate the trees that had caught fire. She frowned. Where was she?

Then she remembered. She remembered Luke pushing her away from the burning trees; she remembered nodding and stumbling off into the forest; she remembered leaning against a tree for a break; she remembered...

Leia gasped as her vision was suddenly taken by a vivid flashback.

_She paused, trying to catch her breath, but instead ended up heaving violently. She doubled over, her hand sliding down the rough bark of the tree. She felt the splinters stab into her hand, felt the blood start to trickle down her palm. But none of it mattered. Not when it was compared to the sight in front of her._

_She saw it first out of the corner of her eye; there was a movement in the shadows, not definable, but definitely there. She froze, her blood running cold through her veins as she listened. It was dead silent. Not a creature to be heard, not the rustle of the branches, not even the crackle of the burning trees which were not too far away. _

_She shivered. The air was growing colder, darker, thicker, choking her, making her sweat and shake. She looked around and then she saw it._

_There. Right in the middle of the shadows that were now swirling uncontrolled throughout the forest, right in the middle of the densest, darkest black curls of darkness were two eyes - two glowing, swirling, fiery yellow eyes which glinted with a feral lustre. She gasped and stepped back - only to trip over a fallen tree and land painfully on her behind. _

_She scrambled backwards, away from the yellow eyes which were growing closer with every passing second. But then her back hit something hard and rough and she knew she was cornered. The eyes lingered just behind the fallen tree that she had tripped over. Their yellow depths burned her, piercing into her very soul. She shied away from them but they were too powerful, too overwhelming. She couldn't breathe. Her vision was going black._

_But then they were gone, disappearing back into the swirling darkness from whence they came. The air rang with the echoes of a scream that she hadn't realised she had let out. She gulped in the cool air, taking deep breaths to fill her lungs and calm her down. Her hand fumbled around on the ground beside her for her water bottle. Soon enough her skin brushed against the cold, hard metal and she grabbed for it needily, opening it and tipping it to her mouth. The liquid slid easily down her throat, nice and warm and thick and oddly metallic tasting…. And then she was coughing it up, retching, because it wasn't water. It was blood._

_She tossed the bottle as far away from her as she could. But then she saw her hands. The blood was there too - almost up to her elbows. She shrieked and started wiping it on her pants, trying to get rid of the red stain but only making it worse. Then she heard it: the deep, heavy breathing of a respirator - and a very familiar respirator at that. _

_Leia looked up in horror. And there before her stood Darth Vader, dressed head to toe in black, his dark cape mingling with the shadows from which he stepped. His black, gloved hand was extended towards her and his breathing echoed for a moment before he rumbled:_

"_Come with me."_

_Leia bolted - up and over the log she had been pressed up against and into the forest. She ran, looking back every now and then. The darkness was following her. She bounded over another log and whipped her head back to look over her shoulder. The shadows were catching up. They were almost at her heels. She turned her head back to her path but it was too late - she tripped over the large, fallen tree and tumbled onto the ground, her head colliding painfully with a large rock. And darkness took her._

Leia opened her eyes wide. Her breathing was heavy as she tried once again to make sense of her surroundings, although it was proving difficult with her eyes as blurred as they were. She scrunched them tight then opened them swiftly. And found that she was face to face with the barrel of a blaster. She frowned.

"Get up," a rough voice snapped.

She looked to the man holding the weapon and was surprised to see him dressed in a Rebel uniform. But the shock soon turned to confusion as she remembered the situation she was in. Brow furrowed, she glanced around at the circle of Rebels. All of them had their blasters pointed at her, except for two who had their sights trained on Threepio and Artoo. What was going on?

"I said get up!" the man snapped again, grabbing her roughly by the arm and forcing her up off the ground.

"Stand down," Leia said, letting the authoritative tones of her diplomatic training take over. "I am Princess Leia Organa, one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance. There is no need for violence here; I am on your side."

The men didn't lower their blasters. Leia frowned, but she was interrupted before she could ask what was going on.

"We know who you are," said the man in front of her, no doubt the leader of the group.

"Then you will put your weapons down," Leia said with control, not letting her words turn into a command but not diminishing her authority either. She went to raise her hand in a peaceful sign of surrender but was stopped short as the blaster was once again shoved in her face.

"Hand over your weapons, Princess," the leader spat, nodding his head towards the blaster strapped at her hip.

Leia raised her left hand slowly as she moved her right to her hip and undid the clasp. Slowly, so as not to aggravate the man, she grasped her blaster and pulled it out of its holster. The leader snatched it off of her in an instant.

"Bind her," he said, turning to face his comrades and motioning towards Leia. "And put restraining bolts on the droids."

"Excuse me?" Leia asked incredulously as two of the Rebels moved towards her, one of them pulling out a pair of metal binders. "Just what do you think you're doing? I demand to know what's going on here!"

"You're being taken prisoner. That's what's going on here, _Your Majesty_," the leader sneered. "Our commander wishes to speak with you."

"Your commander?" Leia asked, confused.

The leader nodded. "Lord Vader."

Leia's eyebrows shot skyward. "_Vader_?" she asked, her voice almost faltering from surprise.

The Rebels with the binders took her moment of shock to snap the metal cuffs around her wrists. She didn't even struggle. If their commander was Vader then that meant…

"You're spies?" she whispered hoarsely.

"You could say that," replied the leader with a wicked smirk. He then turned to the others. "We're heading back to base. Make sure she doesn't try anything and keep an eye out for her companion."

The others nodded and began to head back in the direction they had come. Leia was pushed roughly into line, with Threepio and Artoo close behind. Companion? Oh, of course. Luke.

Leia's blood ran cold. Luke! Where was he? Through her poison induced haze and then the sudden shock at being betrayed she had completely forgotten about Luke. Is this what he had foreseen? That the Rebels they were searching for were actually Imperial spies? If so, then where was he? What was he planning? Then her mind changed track and she suddenly felt sick in the stomach. What if he was injured? What if he too had been knocked out by the toxic smoke?

But then she heard a voice inside her head, echoing and swirling as if murmured through a thick fog. It was Luke's voice and he was telling her that he had to leave but it was going to be okay and she had to trust him.

And she did.

Leia kept her gaze forward as she clambered over various logs and vines, restricted by her binders but still making good time. She just hoped Luke was right.

.

.

.

Luke moved silently across the leaf littered ground, keeping his distance from the band of Rebels turned Imperial agents yet remaining close enough that he could easily sense their emotions. Or Leia's at least. The Imperial spies, or so they claimed to be, were incredibly hard to read. Every time Luke reached out with the Force he was met with nothing but that same ill intent he had felt when he had first noticed them approaching. He supposed it would be normal for Imperials to have a decent amount of dislike for the Rebels, but he would have thought he'd be able to sense more than that. It was like they were driven only by their hatred for traitors to the Empire. No doubt they would make loyal spies, but Luke just couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right about them. A whole band of Imperials posing as Rebel scouts? It just didn't make sense.

And as if to confirm his doubts, that nagging feeling from the Force had returned. It hadn't really left since they had landed on Arka III but it was much stronger now.

Luke continued to track them back to their base, all the while keeping a check on Leia to make sure she was coping okay, which, of course, she was. She had initially been concerned about his disappearance but thankfully she had been conscious enough to hear his final words to her before he had departed and had calmed significantly upon recalling them. Now she was just plain annoyed at being fooled so easily and was wondering how the Imperials had managed to pull this stunt off. But behind her current musings, Luke could sense that she was worried about him. Where was he? Did he have a plan?

Luke recoiled instantly. He had gone too far. Emotions he could handle, but thoughts… He had no right to intrude upon someone's inner beliefs without their permission. To him it felt like a dark side power, although he knew it wasn't. But sometimes he just couldn't help it. Especially with Leia. He constantly found himself slipping past her feelings into her thoughts without realising. It was like they had a connection.

Luke was brought back to the present as the band of soldiers began to slow to a halt. He quickly ducked down behind a tree and peered around the side. The were gathered around the entrance to the crashed scout ship. Or the ship that was _meant_ to be crashed. Luke crept a little closer to get a better look. It appeared that the ship had, in fact, not crashed but had instead been landed neatly in a small clearing just like he had done with their Alliance shuttle earlier.

Luke reached out with the Force to listen in on the small group's conversation.

"Take her into the ship," the leader commanded roughly, jerking a finger at Leia. "And the droids too."

Leia didn't struggle as she was forced up the ramp and into the ship by two strong men, the droids trailing behind her. The leader didn't even watch her go. He turned to the others and continued barking out orders.

"You two," he said, motioning to the two with the biggest blasters, "stand guard. Her companion's most likely not far off. Don't kill him. Vader wants him alive."

"The rest of you, follow me," the leader ordered and turned around, heading into the ship. The Imperials followed, leaving just the two guards outside the ship who moved to the perimeter of the clearing, blasters raised and ready.

Luke smirked. This would be easy.

.

.

.

"Your plan will not work," Leia said to the leader as he entered the room where she was being held, her voice calm but mild. "I will not tell your commander anything."

"Oh, he knows that, Princess," the leader sneered as he sat down opposite her. "But you will make fine bait for Skywalker."

Leia kept her calm facade in check, but beneath the neutral expression she was beginning to panic. So, Vader was still after Luke. And he might even get him. No doubt, Luke was planning on springing her from her captors but did he realise that Vader was involved in all of this? Done correctly, this situation could easily fall into Imperial control and Luke could be captured. He would never willingly go to Vader, but with the right persuasion… perhaps in the form of a friend held at gunpoint? Leia shook her head. No, Luke would know what was going on. He would know the risks. He wouldn't let the Imperials get the upper hand here.

She looked the leader dead in the eye and asked, "Skywalker?"

"Don't play dumb, Princess. We know you have ties to that rebel scum. He'll come looking for you and when he does, we'll get him."

Leia noticed the smirks on the other men's faces as they looked around at each other and then at her.

"Skywalker's no fool," Leia said, chin raised. "He'll know it's a trap."

"And he'll come anyway," the leader laughed. "Just wait and see, Your Highness."

"Well, then I guess I'll be waiting a while," Leia replied cooly, eyebrows raised slightly, "because Skywalker's currently on the other side of the galaxy. It'll be a week at least before he hears of your betrayal and your dealings with the Empire. It'll be even longer before he decides to come after me."

"I don't believe that for a second, sweetheart," the leader said with a smirk. "He may not be on this planet right now, but I'd bet my ship that he's up there with the Alliance about to be torn apart by the incoming Imperial fleet."

Leia's heart fluttered from relief at the revelation that they didn't know Luke was on Arka III to immediate dread at the mention of the impending battle that the Alliance didn't know was coming.

"I would've thought Vader would want him alive, not blown to pieces," Leia said, keeping up her controlled appearance.

"Oh, indeed he does," the leader said as he leaned back in his chair, the lilt of victory in his voice. Leia clenched her jaw. She very much wanted to punch that smirk off his face but her diplomatic training, as well as her common sense, kept her from doing so. "After Skywalker surrenders and joins the Empire, the Alliance will be destroyed, once and for all."

"Luke will never join you!" Leia grit out, her temper rising. She was useless here, bound and kept under guard. She needed to warn the Alliance. She needed to get out of here.

"He will if your death is the penalty for his refusal." The leader pulled a small blaster from his belt and pointed it at her. "And I'm beginning to tire of your stuck up voice, Your Highness. So why don't you shut it for a bit, huh?"

Leia felt sick. The leader's words were true. Luke would do anything to save her, even hand himself over to Vader. But she couldn't let the Imperials know that.

She opened her mouth to speak again but closed it quickly as the leader placed his finger on the trigger.

"We wouldn't want to splatter your brains too early now would we, Princess?" the leader hissed, his eyes glinting wickedly. "Although, I'm sure it really wouldn't matter. Skywalker will come to us if he thinks he can save your life, so why should we tell him if you're dead? And anyway, I'm sure Lord Vader isn't foolish enough to actually let you go after Skywalker has surrendered. So, let's face it, Princess, you're going to die either way. Do you want it now or later?"

"How about never?" came a voice from the doorway.

Leia froze. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was; she could recognise that voice anywhere. Instead, she watched the man in front of her as he jumped from his seat, blaster raised at the intruder. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to comprehend what was going on. When everything seemed to make sense to him, he turned his blaster back on Leia and inclined his head slightly towards the doorway.

"Skywalker. Nice of you to join us."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, follows & favourites so far! They have made me even more excited to be writing this fic!**

* * *

><p>"Let her go." Luke's voice was icy.<p>

The leader smirked, giving a small signal to his troops, who quickly raised their blasters and pointed them at Leia.

"I'd give you our conditions, Skywalker, but I have a feeling you've been listening in."

"Indeed," Luke replied. He paused for a moment. Perhaps he was trying to catch her eye, but Leia still refused to turn around and face him. She didn't want to see him surrender to the Imperials; she knew what they were capable of, what their torture involved. She would never wish it upon anyone, least of all sweet, innocent Luke.

She took a deep breath. She had to try. "Luke, don't," she whispered.

"Leia," Luke said quietly. "Remember what I said to you. Remember your promise."

"But, Luke!" Leia began, leaning forward in her chair to prevent herself from turning around.

"Leia, trust me." His voice was soft and pleading.

She felt sick. This wasn't about to happen. _This wasn't about to happen._ She rested her forehead on the cold metal table. Oh, but it was.

"So, Skywalker," came the arrogant voice of the Imperial spy leader. "What will it be?"

"I will surrender," Luke replied, his voice confidently loud. "On one condition."

"You are in no place to be making conditions, Skywalker," the leader spat, shaking his blaster in Leia's direction. "Join us or she dies!"

Leia heard Luke's footsteps as he stepped forward. His voice once again held that iciness as he spoke. "No, my friend. _You_ are the one that is in no place to be making conditions."

And by the apprehensive looks on the other men's faces, she could only assume that Luke had pulled out his lightsaber. She hadn't heard the _snap-hiss_ of its ignition though, so Luke was still playing it safe. He knew that any wrong move on his account could get her killed.

Unlike his men, the leader wasn't so easily frightened. He raised an eyebrow at Luke, looking thoroughly unconcerned. "You do realise, Jedi, that if you make one wrong move…." He paused for a moment, eyeing the lightsaber in Luke's hand. "She dies."

"Of course," Luke replied evenly. "But I assure you, there will be no deaths here today." He placed his lightsaber on the table near Leia and glanced down at her but she still refused to meet his gaze. "I will accept your conditions and go with you willingly if - and only if - you let her go."

The leader opened his mouth to speak but Luke cut him off.

"Vader is after me, not her. You have nothing to lose - you have your prize. And I will go without a fight. But only on my conditions."

The leader stared at Luke, obviously contemplating his words. It would be stupid for him to refuse, Leia thought. Luke could make for a threatening opponent and she had a feeling that the Imperial didn't want to get on the bad side of a Jedi, especially one with such a reputation for ruining the Empire's schemes. Releasing her and taking Skywalker would result in Vader's plans being fulfilled. Not releasing her may result in the loss of Skywalker and that would ultimately end in severe consequences for everyone. In the end, the choice was obvious, and Leia could see the decision form in the leader's eyes.

"Very well," the leader replied, lowering his blaster and ordering his men to do the same. "Release her," he ordered the soldier with the key.

"No need," Luke said, waving a hand.

Leia heard a click and then felt the binders slip from her wrists. She sat there, numb, not knowing what to do. She could feel Luke's gaze on her, pleading with her to look at him. When she didn't return his stare, Luke turned again to face the leader of the traitorous Rebels.

"Now, let her go." Luke's voice was commanding and authoritative, yet Leia could hear the sadness buried in his words.

Her vision was beginning to swim with unshed tears. But she would not let them fall. Leia squeezed her eyes shut and slowed her breathing, rooting herself the only way she knew how - through anger. Anger that stemmed from the destruction of her planet and now drove her hatred for the Empire. It was the only way she knew how to stay in control. The anger cleared her head and made situations clearer, made puzzles easily solvable, made tough circumstances easier to face. She opened her eyes and her vision was sharp once again.

"Give her her weapons back and her supplies," Luke continued. "The droids will also be released with her and she will be allowed safe passage back to her ship. You will not pursue her as she returns to the Alliance, nor will you make any attempt to track her ship as it leaves the system. Understood?"

The leader nodded stiffly. "As you wish, Skywalker," he said, inclining his head slightly in polite acknowledgement, although Leia could see the creases of displeasure at the edges of his thin mouth, no doubt from being ordered around by a prisoner. "Fetch the droids and the supplies," he ordered, turning to one of his men.

Leia watched the man nod and leave the room. There were now only five Imperials in the room, including the leader. Five Imperials and two Rebels, one of which was a Jedi. Surely, they could take them. If only she had a weapon….

Leia's eyes scanned slowly around the room. And then a glint from the table caught her eye.

The lightsaber. Of course.

Leia glanced up at the leader and found that his attention was still on Luke. Good. Now, to reach the lightsaber.

Slowly, so as to not catch the attention of the Imperials, Leia leaned her elbow on the table and began to slide her hand towards the silver and black hilt.

She paused as the leader's attention shifted. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a set of binders, just like the ones that had been used on her not so long ago.

"Now, I know there's no practical use putting these on you," said the leader, eyeing the binders before slowly approaching Luke. "But for appearance's sake - as a symbol of your surrender... Do you understand?"

"Of course," Luke replied, his tone even and not giving away any hint of emotion.

Leia watched out of the corner of her eye as Luke extended his hands forward, pressed together at the wrists. The leader stepped closer carefully and Leia smirked. He was frightened of Luke, she could tell. He was doing a good job of not showing it, but it was there, hidden behind the confidence and the arrogance. She didn't blame him; Jedi were extremely powerful and Luke was no exception. Even with his hands bound he could easily kill every single person in the room through the power of the Force. Not that Luke would do that, of course. Only the Sith used the Force for murder, for their own gain. She had heard the stories of Darth Vader's powers, his mystical and frightening ways of killing - everyone had. And she could almost see the reflections of those stories in the leader's eyes as he went to snap the binders around Luke's wrists.

Now was her chance.

Leia reached forward quickly, making a grab for the lightsaber.

But it flew out of her grasp and came to a stop just out of her reach, dangling tantalisingly before her in the middle of the air.

"Leia," Luke warned.

Suddenly all the blasters in the room were once again trained on her. But she didn't care. Only now did she turn to face Luke, her anger simmering just below the surface, barely controlled.

"Why did you do that?" she asked incredulously, gesturing wildly at the hovering lightsaber as she rose to her feet. She shot a glare at the leader of the Imperials, who had just finished locking Luke's hands in the metal cuffs. He stepped back out of her way, but his blaster was still trailing her movements. He wouldn't dare shoot her. Not when it might risk angering Luke.

Leia snapped her attention back to her friend. "Why are you doing this, Luke?" she asked, her confusion being momentarily consumed by her anger and frustration. She couldn't let him hand himself over to Vader. It would be his death sentence. She searched his eyes for a hint of emotion but found that he wasn't returning her stare. Apparently he was playing that game now too.

"Luke, look at me," she demanded, her voice rising. "Why aren't you fighting?"

Luke turned to her and his blue eyes were calm as they met hers. "Because fighting isn't always the answer, Leia. You know that," he whispered softly so that only she could hear. "Yes, we could escape from here, but at what cost? If the Empire found out, they'd turn their full wrath on the Alliance up there in space. We need to give them a chance - I am that chance. I don't believe for a second that the Empire would be able to defeat us entirely in one single battle; once they have me, the Imperials will leave and you will be able to return to the Alliance. They need you, Leia. And I can't risk losing you."

"But they'll kill you," she whispered back.

"Then that is how it is meant to be." His gaze was strong but with a soft edge and a knowing glint that she didn't understand. "But I don't believe Vader will kill me."

"Luke -"

"Trust me, Leia," he whispered, stepping closer to her.

Leia wrapped her arms around him, pulling him tight and holding him close.

She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he murmured, "I'll come back, Leia. I won't leave you. I promise."

His embrace felt like home and she closed her eyes, praying that this moment could last forever. She had lost her family, her planet, her lover. She couldn't lose her best friend too.

But no one could stop time. Not even a Jedi.

Luke withdrew slowly and turned to face the leader. "I'm ready," he said solemnly.

"Good," snapped the leader, eyeing the two of them and then tucking his blaster back into its holster once he had decided that neither of his prisoners were about to cause a ruckus. The other men followed his lead. "We must make contact with the Executor. Lord Vader will want to know of your surrender."

He stepped forward and shoved Luke in the direction of the door.

"Take her outside and let her go," he ordered his men, nodding in Leia's direction. "You know the conditions. Make sure they are fulfilled."

Leia watched miserably as Luke was pushed out of the door. He shot her a small, reassuring smile and then he was gone. She couldn't help but feel as if this was all going incredibly wrong. What if this was the last time she saw Luke? What if he never came back?

No. She couldn't think that way. Luke had a knack for escaping the Empire and no doubt he'd be able to pull it off again. After all, he'd made a promise.

Now all he had to do was keep it.

.

.

.

Leia grumbled and kicked the ground, coming to a halt in the middle of the forest. She stared at her boots, mud-stained and covered in red dirt, as she fought back the emotions that were once again threatening to overthrow her controlled exterior.

It had been a trap. Of course it had. Why hadn't they seen this coming? Why hadn't Luke, of all people, seen this coming? But maybe he had. Leia sat down on a log, burying her face in her hands as she thought back to that sad, knowing glint that she had spotted in Luke's eye before they had left the shuttle. He had known something then. No. Maybe not known - but _felt_. He had felt that something was off about the entire situation and he had realised that he might be faced with a difficult decision - one with consequences either way. And then he had made her promise that she would do exactly as he said, almost as if he had known then and there that the day would end in his sacrifice to the Empire.

Sacrifice... No, she had to stop thinking like that. Maybe there was still a chance - a chance to save Luke.

She thought over the events of earlier, before she had been tossed back into the forest. The leader had said that they were going to contact the Executor. Perhaps a shuttle was going to be sent down to the surface to collect Luke, or at least to confirm that it _was_ Luke that they had captured. Maybe Vader would be on board.

It was unlikely, but worth a shot. Leia bounded to her feet and started heading back the way she had come, passing a surprised looking Threepio on the way.

"Mistress Leia! Where are you going?" the protocol droid called, waving his golden arms frantically. "The ship's in the other direction!"

She ignored him and continued walking. There was most likely no use in turning back, but she couldn't leave knowing that she had abandoned Luke without trying her best to save him.

"Hurry up, Goldenrod!" she called as she bounded over a thick patch of prickles, quickly disappearing from Threepio's line of sight in the dense forest.

Threepio stood for a moment, watching her go. Then he shook his head and started trotting off after her, muttering to Artoo as he went.

"Sometimes I just really don't understand human behaviour."

.

.

.

Luke leaned against the white-washed wall of the shuttle's corridor as he waited for the leader of the Imperial company to return from making coded contact with the Executor. He had been surprised when he had been told that he would not be required for visual confirmation; however, perhaps it made sense. It was most likely too risky to send such important information at a time like this when both the Alliance and the Empire were engaged in battle above them. If the Rebels intercepted the signal, they would no doubt send a full squadron after him, making the Imperial's plans of taking him to Vader all the more harder.

Or perhaps they already had confirmation, although not of the visual kind. The Executor was Vader's command ship, so there was no doubt that the Sith Lord - his father - was up there patrolling the dark corridors of the Empire's most impressive flagship. Vader had made contact with him through the Force not long after his escape from Bespin, although that had been at a much smaller distance. Even still, Vader's powers were exceptionally greater than Luke's, so even if Luke couldn't sense his father from this distance, who's to say that his father couldn't sense him?

Luke shook his head and moved his thoughts to Leia instead - he would deal with his father later. Luke reached out with the Force, moving past the Imperial spies and their ever present ill intent, out towards the forest where Leia and the droids would be. After a few moments of searching, he found her. Although she was not where he had imagined - or hoped - her to be.

He frowned, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. But then he sensed her caution, her determination, the whispers of her thoughts and he sighed softly with a smile. He had never known Leia to give up or to go down without a fight and he figured that would never change, especially not now. The princess had doubled back and was now hiding on the edges of the clearing's perimeter, watching and waiting for a chance to rescue him. But that chance would never come and he knew it. Not today, at least. And Leia knew that too. So, why was she still lingering when she should be on her way back to the Alliance and to safety? Perhaps she was hoping to snap a shot off at Vader's head, if he even dared to show it on this planet. Luke smirked. He knew she'd love to do it, although she never would, especially not if it put him in danger.

Luke sighed again as the door at the end of the corridor opened and the leader stepped out. Whatever Leia was doing there, he hoped she would give it up quickly and return to the Alliance. That would mean one less worry for him.

"The shuttle will be here in a number of minutes," said the leader gruffly as he walked past Luke, a victorious smile on his face. "We'll wait outside for their arrival."

Luke watched the man as he passed, eyes narrowed. From the leader's belt hung his lightsaber, its silver and black hilt glinting softly in the lights of the corridor as it swung to and fro. Luke couldn't help the glare that he shot at the leader's back. He hated seeing his weapon in the hands of a traitor. It was such a personal item and it meant so much to him; it was his confidence, his power and his memory. It meant that he had successfully completed his training in the Jedi arts and it meant that he was now a worthy opponent for his father. But beyond the physicalities, it also held fond memories of his mentors, past and present. It was a constant reminder of what he had lost as well as what he had gained. And now it looked like he was never going to get it back.

Luke sighed - he seemed to be doing that a lot today - and followed the Imperial out of the shuttle into the green clearing below which was now tinted with red from the approaching sunset. Leia's presence was strong in his mind as he stepped out onto the grass but he ignored it. His decision was already hard enough to deal with without Leia's muddled emotions mixed in as well.

He glanced around at his captors. One of the patrol guards, who must have recovered from Luke's surprise attack earlier, was approaching the leader, ducking his head down to speak in hushed tones. Luke stretched out with the Force to listen in.

"What of the princess?" asked the leader.

"She headed into the forest with the droids," replied the guard. "But she doubled back and is now hiding on the edges of the perimeter."

The leader hissed and shot a glance at the forest, his hand going to his blaster.

"She won't try anything," called Luke, hoping that Leia would hear his words as well.

The leader shot a glare at him, but dropped his hand back to his side, grumbling something under his breath that Luke couldn't catch. In any case, it seemed that Leia wouldn't be in any danger from the Imperials; they were all too scared of him to act against his will.

Luke shook his head and looked up into the sky, waiting for the shuttle that would escort him to the Executor and to Vader, his father.

It was a fair few minutes before the shuttle appeared, but Luke's eyesight was keen and he spotted it before his captors did. Its white, triple wing configuration shimmered in the dying light of Arka III's sun, creating a spark in the ever deepening red backdrop. The ship swung low over the canopy before pulling back around and slowing to a halt above a clear patch of grass. The lower wings folded upwards as the shuttle descended, landing smoothly next to the Rebel scout ship. There was a soft hiss as the cabin depressurised and soon enough the ramp began to descend from the belly of the ship.

Luke watched as an Imperial Commander stepped from the shuttle, soon followed by a guard of six stormtroopers, their white armour tinted orange in the light of the setting sun. He felt his captors stiffen to attention as the Imperial Commander approached.

"Commander Reth, sir," acknowledged the leader of the traitorous Rebels.

"At ease, Captain Skyro," Reth replied, not even glancing at the man, but instead focusing his gaze on Luke. Luke returned the stare with contempt. "I see your words are true, Captain. Lord Vader will be pleased."

"His lightsaber, Commander," said Skyro, pulling the hilt off his belt and handing it to Reth. The Commander took it without thanks and turned it over in his hands, examining the weapon's craftsmanship. He then pocketed it and turned to his stormtroopers.

"Secure the prisoner," he commanded.

The stormtroopers nodded and headed over to Luke, two of them grabbing his arms roughly and holding him in place. Luke didn't struggle, his gaze still fixed hard on Reth.

The Commander now turned to Skyro. "Your services are no longer required," he said simply before turning and motioning to his guard to move Luke into the shuttle.

But Luke wouldn't budge. His mouth hung open and his eyebrows were raised as he stared in concern at his captors, all of which were now lying on the floor unmoving. They had collapsed just after the Commanders words and had slipped from Luke's senses.

"What did you do to them?" he asked, shocked. He couldn't sense anything from them, except for the slightest indication that they were, in fact, still breathing.

"That is none of your concern, Skywalker," replied Commander Reth, his tones final as he headed towards the Imperial shuttle.

Luke let himself be turned away from his sprawled out captors, but he kept his senses locked on them as he was steered towards the tri-winged ship by the stormtroopers. The spies were beginning to regain consciousness. It was happening very slowly, but it was there and Luke felt slightly relieved. He had initially thought that the Commander had killed them and if it wasn't for his connection with the Force, he would still be thinking that as he made his way towards the shuttle ramp. No death was necessary to him; no death was justified. In his belief, everyone was equally entitled to the rights of life, even the Imperials, and if those spies had died today he would have felt guilty knowing that it was his presence that had gotten them killed. But luckily, they were not dead and as Luke stepped up the rampway, he felt something that he had not felt before from his captors - individuality.

He paused. All he had been able to sense from the Imperial spies up until now had been ill intent as well as a strong hatred for the Rebels, but now…. Now, he could sense each and every one of them, individual and no longer hidden behind the mask of enmity.

But before he could make sense of the change, he was shoved unceremoniously into the shuttle and the ramp was closed with a dull thud. He heard the ignition of the engines and soon enough, they were blasting away from Arka III's gravity well and heading straight for Vader's flagship.

Luke took a deep breath and tried to calm himself with the Force. A mix of overwhelming emotions - sadness, anxiety, dread - were fluttering around in his stomach and he was struggling to control them. He knew that if he was going to stand any chance against Vader, he needed to conquer his fear and let his mind be calm, at peace.

Luke took another deep breath and closed his eyes, sinking himself into the mystical folds of the Force.

He had only a number of minutes to get himself under control. Then he would have to face his father.

.

.

.

Leia watched helplessly as the Imperial shuttle disappeared into the sky, taking her best friend with it. She sighed. She hadn't had a chance to save Luke and now he was gone. It was finally beginning to sink in; Luke was lost and he would never return. Vader would kill him and that would be the end of it.

No matter how hard she tried, she could not cling on to hope. It was fading fast - like the sun beyond the tree tops, its burning visage slowly slipping below the horizon and leaving nothing but darkness in its absence. Shadows fell around her but she didn't notice, too caught up in her misery. What hope was there for the Alliance now that Luke was gone? What hope was there for _her_?

Both of her friends had been snatched away from her by Vader. She was alone now and as much as she hated to admit it, she was afraid. Without the smiles and laughter of friendship in her life, she feared that she would struggle to maintain her position and control within the Alliance. Her friends had been the only thing that had kept her sane and had led her to believe that she was living a normal life.

But she wasn't. And neither were the billions of other people across the galaxy who were forced into constant states of fear by the iron grip of the Empire. They had lost friends as well - suffered terrible tragedies. And they were still fighting; they still had hope - hope in the Alliance - hope in _her_.

Leia's resolve tightened. She would not let anyone else suffer at the hand of Vader or the Empire. She had a job to do, a responsibility. And she was going to do it.

She would make the Empire pay.

But first…

She whipped her blaster from its holster and spun around, coming face to face with the person who had been trying to sneak up on her. She squinted into the darkness, trying to determine the person's features and as such, their identity. Her eyes adjusted slowly as they roamed over the camouflage uniform, the blaster in hand… It was one of the Imperial spies!

Skyro.

Leia jabbed her weapon at her former captor and shot him a glare. "Stay away from me," she hissed.

Skyro scrambled back and dropped his blaster hurriedly, raising his hands in surrender. Leia narrowed her eyes. That was not what she had been expecting, but it was good nonetheless.

"Please, Princess Leia -"

"Leave me alone," she ordered. "You were given your orders, Skyro. Imagine what Commander Skywalker will do when he finds out you defied them." She raised her eyebrows at him and he quivered slightly.

"Please, let me explain," Skyro hurried, his arrogant demeanour now nowhere to be seen. His eyes were earnest and pleading and Leia felt considerably confused. Logic told her that it was an act; Skyro was just trying to earn her trust so that he could betray her again and hand her over to Vader. But her instincts told her it was all honest action. She frowned.

And then she remembered the events before Luke's departure - the collapse of the Rebel spies. She had been horrified at the sight, thinking that they were dead, but her mind had been so focused on Luke that she hadn't even noticed their recovery. She twisted her head around to look behind her but kept her blaster aimed at Skyro.

And there in the clearing were the rest of the spies. They were grouped around the entrance to the shuttle and were conversing amongst themselves. Every now and then, one of them would look up to the sky or scan the perimeter. Even from this distance, Leia could tell that they weren't the same as before. Their body posture was softer now, no longer held in the military rigidness common to Imperial troops, and their blasters were lowered or holstered. Some wore expressions of considerable confusion, whilst others looked extremely nervous or fearful.

Leia turned back to Skyro. "What's going on?" she demanded.

Skyro looked significantly relieved at her interest and proceeded to explain the situation at top speed. "Your Highness, you must believe me. We are not spies. We never were! We're Alliance scouts returning from a mission to Tatooine. Most of us are tacticians and technicians, although a few are mercenaries brought along for protection. We were intercepted above Arka III by the Imperials. Our ship wasn't damaged but we were brought on board the Executor. Then we ended up down here... And then you arrived and we didn't have control - none of us did! It was like we were watching as someone else hacked into our bodies and took control of them, carrying out actions that we could not prevent. Please, Your Highness. Please, you must forgive us! Our actions were not our own!"

"Woah, hold on a second," Leia cut in, trying to make sense of Skyro's rambled explanation. Skyro paused, panting, and she studied him for a moment. Then she asked, "What happened aboard the Executor?"

Skyro hesitated, glancing down before looking back up to Leia. "We don't know."

"You don't know?" Leia's eyebrows were raised. She knew he was being honest... But how? She didn't know. It was just a feeling in her gut, but it was there and it was strong. The man wasn't lying, but he wasn't making sense either.

Skyro nodded. "Our ship got caught in the Executor's tractor beams and we were pulled aboard. And then we were here on Arka III. Everything in between is black. It was like it didn't even happen."

"Okay…" Leia murmured, her eyes wandering the forest as she thought. Something had happened aboard the Executor… but _what_ exactly? Had the scouts been drugged? Gassed? It was possible but didn't seem likely. After all, you would most likely remember that happening. No, something was going on here… and whatever it was, it wasn't looking good for the Alliance.

She looked back to Skyro. "You said you didn't have control. What do you mean?"

"It was like we were robots," Skyro began slowly, searching for the right words. "Our minds were filled with ideas that were not our own and we were given orders that we had to obey. We were to capture you and use you as bait for Commander Skywalker, but little did we know that he was already here." Skyro looked her in the eye and through the darkness she could just see the hint of regret on the man's face. "I am extremely sorry for the way I treated you, Princess, and for what has happened to Commander Skywalker. I must apologise for my actions and for the actions of my men. I understand if you wish us to be dismissed from the Alliance." Skyro lowered his head, avoiding her gaze.

"Look at me, Captain," Leia said quietly. "I do not wish for your dismissal. If what you say is true then you are not to blame for what has happened here today. This state you were in… do you think it could have been some sort of brainwashing or mind control? Hypnotism perhaps?"

Skyro looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "Perhaps, Your Highness."

Leia opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by a loud, wailing howl that echoed throughout the forest.

"What was that?" she whispered, eyes wide.

"I don't know," Skyro whispered back, glancing worriedly into the forest. "But it didn't sound friendly. We should get back to the ship."

He bent down to pick up his blaster, catching Leia's eye first to make sure that it was okay for him to arm himself; then he started heading back in the direction of the scout ship. Leia stared into the forest for a few more moments. Everything had gone extremely silent and it was beginning to become unnerving. She felt frozen to the core. What if the creature that had made the howling noise was watching her?

She shook her head and quickly got up from her hiding place, bounding lightly over the leaf littered forest floor and beckoning to the droids to follow quietly. She received no argument from them; they obviously understood the potential danger they were in.

Once she was safely within the clearing, she felt considerably more relaxed - until she was bombarded with Rebel scouts offering their apologies and begging for forgiveness.

"Enough!" she commanded, holding up a hand. "I have spoken with your Captain and he has explained your situation. You will be allowed to return to the Alliance as long as you agree to full mental and physical evaluations. You must understand our caution; your situation is pretty much unheard of." She looked around at the group of scouts who were watching her intently. They all looked dramatically relieved at the news that they would be allowed to continue to serve in the Alliance and they all nodded in response to her words.

"Good," Leia continued. "I will be returning to the Alliance shortly. Was your ship damaged in the events of earlier?"

One of the scouts, a young man with blond hair and blue eyes, spoke up. "No, Your Highness, but some of the systems were disabled. It might take a couple of hours to reboot everything."

Leia stared at him as he spoke and she couldn't help but be reminded of Luke. It took all of her strength to pull her thoughts away from the sadness that was Luke's loss and instead turn them to determination. There might still be a chance to save Luke, but only if they could return to the Alliance. And quickly.

"Then you'd better get to work," she replied. The man nodded and hurried off to the ship with a few companions. "I will return to my ship and -"

"Princess," Skyro intervened. "Sorry for my interruption, but I hardly think it would be a good idea for you to return to your ship now. It's dark out and we don't know what creatures might be lurking in that forest."

"I understand your concern, Captain," said Leia mildly. "But I am fully capable of taking care of myself." She let her hand rest on the blaster holstered to her hip.

Skyro hesitated for a moment, evidently tossing up whether to comply or to continue with his argument. He then opened his mouth to speak. "I know you can, Your Highness, but I must stress the importance of the situation."

Leia was about to interrupt but Skyro cut her off.

"I only mean to offer my assistance, Your Highness," Skyro continued. "I cannot make up for my actions earlier, but I can at least give you all the respect and help you deserve. It is the least I can do in this situation. And after all, you'll need a pilot."

Leia sighed. She hadn't thought of that. Luke and Han were always the pilots and she was always the passenger. But with both of them now gone, she was stranded and helpless. She made a mental note to take some flying lessons after she returned to the Alliance and rescued Luke. After all, who knew what situations she might get into in the future and knowing how to successfully pilot a shuttle might end up being very useful.

"I accept your assistance, Captain," Leia acknowledged. "Will your crew be able to manage without you?"

"Of course," replied Skyro with a smile on his face.

Leia nodded. "Then we leave in five minutes. Once I reach my ship I will send out the coordinates of the Alliance's rendezvous point. It is unlikely that the battle with the Empire is still in motion now that Commander Skywalker is gone, so we'll meet them there."

Skyro and the others nodded. Leia watched as the Captain turned around and delivered orders to his fellow teammates. There was a tap on her shoulder and she looked around to see Threepio looking at her questioningly.

"Uh, Mistress Leia," the droid stammered. "Are you certain this is a good idea? I mean, there could be anything out in that forest. I think it is hardly the place for a princess to be heading in the middle of the night, let alone two droids."

"You're right, Threepio," Leia replied, to which Threepio jerked away in surprise. "You and Artoo will slow us down. And as much as I hate to leave you, it is imperative that I return to the Alliance as soon as possible."

Threepio's arms shot up in protest and Artoo gave a short chirp. "Leave us? Mistress Leia, you cannot leave us here on this forsaken planet. It will be our end," Threepio wailed.

Leia rolled her eyes and patted Threepio's shoulder. "Relax, Threepio. I'm not leaving you behind; I'm leaving you with the scout group. They'll bring you back to the Alliance, safe and sound. There's no need to worry."

She didn't wait to see Threepio's response. Captain Skyro was approaching her, supplies and weapons in hand.

"Fresh supplies," he said, holding out a bag which she took with thanks and slipped into her backpack. "And extra weapons."

Leia took the blaster rifle from him and slung it over her shoulder. She much prefered smaller weapons, but in this case perhaps it would be best to have something with a little more fire power. After all, who knew what they might face in the forest.

"All set, Captain?" she asked.

Skyro nodded. "Everything's in order."

"Then let's go."

.

.

.

Luke's eyes opened as he heard the creak of the landing supports begin to extend from the ship. He felt the shuttle gradually slow down until it was hovering just above the ground and then felt it sink slowly onto its supports. The engines died and everything went still.

They were here.

Luke took a deep breath, relishing in the feel of the air in his lungs and the freedom with which he could control his body. It could very well be the last time, after all. If he wasn't killed by Vader, then he would most likely be tortured. There would be no way for him to get out of either situation unless he agreed to join his father. And that was most definitely not an option.

His arms were grabbed roughly by the stormtrooper escorts and he was dragged to his feet. Luke would have willingly cooperated but they didn't even give him the chance. The troopers then shoved him forcefully towards the exit ramp.

The cabin was depressurising and soon enough they would be exiting the shuttle. Luke stood still as he waited for the ramp to lower, watching as Commander Reth appeared to give orders to his guard. The stormtroopers nodded professionally and tightened their grip on Luke.

He had surrendered voluntarily but they would not make it appear that way. No one readily welcomed a trip aboard the Executor and especially not someone who was being hunted by Lord Vader. Making it look as if they had captured him and forced him into submission would no doubt work very well at making the Empire appear strong and the Rebel Alliance appear weak. As if the galaxy needed any more confirmation of the Empire's iron grip, Luke thought with a grimace.

The rampway descended from the ship, coming into contact with the shiny, black flooring of the hangar bay with a dull thud. Reth snapped to attention, the military rigidness that never left his form becoming even more defined than Luke thought possible. The Commander then began making his way down the ramp and Luke was forced to follow. He tried his best to make it look as if he had at least some control over his situation; he raised his chin with dignity and kept his head forward and expression neutral, although the grips of the stormtroopers on his upper arms were beginning to become rather painful. He suppressed a grimace and continued on down the walkway.

Luke fought to remain in control of his face as he stepped out onto the Executor's hangar bay floor. To say it was huge would be an understatement. Luke pressed his lips together tightly to prevent his jaw from dropping and his eyes quickly scanned the room. He had never seen a hangar bay so large - or so busy. There were pilots and technical staff rushing about everywhere, whilst mechanics and engineers worked on the various shuttles that were scattered about the bay. The black floors were so well polished that they reflected everything in the room almost perfectly. The Alliance's hangar bays on Home One looked like a shabby mess in comparison. Not even the hangar bay of the Death Star was as magnificent as this one, although admittedly Luke had never had the chance to see any of the other hangar bays on the Empire's prized weapon and perhaps that was a good thing.

Luke's attention was snapped back to the present as he jolted to a stop. Ahead of him were three squadrons of stormtroopers lined up to perfection, their white armour glistening in the light and approaching them was a man in a sharp, pristine uniform. An air of importance surrounded the man and Luke noted it with respect; the man's jacket bore the insignia of an Imperial Admiral, one of the top ranks in the Imperial fleet and a position that seemed to open up almost once a year according to the intel gathered by the Alliance; Admirals were highly skilled tacticians, but even they could make mistakes and Vader was not the forgiving type.

"Admiral Piett," Reth acknowledged.

"At ease, Commander," replied Piett, his voice authoritative and intimidating, yet Luke could sense a feeling of weariness behind his words. No doubt the constant stress of commanding the most feared flagship in the galaxy was beginning to wear the Admiral down. "I see you have successfully apprehended the Rebel. Lord Vader will be pleased."

The Admiral's attention briefly flickered to Luke, giving him a quick once over, before returning to Commander Reth and the lightsaber he was being handed. Luke narrowed his eyes in a glare as his weapon was once again passed on to a higher ranking Imperial. He felt uneasy as he realised that the next one would be Vader.

"I will take him from here, Commander," Piett informed Reth before turning and heading in the direction of the hangar bay doors.

Luke was pushed in the same direction by his stormtrooper escorts and soon enough he found himself walking through the dark walled corridors of the Executor. The ship was as intimidating as the stories he had heard about it from his fellow pilots back at the Alliance. Granted, those stories were most likely works of fiction as, after all, no prisoners ever escaped from the Executor and lived to tell the tale. Luke's nerves returned at the thought and he wondered what that might mean for him.

After many sharp turns and long passages, they finally arrived at a simple set of grey sliding doors. Luke had expected something more grand, but then again, Vader didn't seem like a person who took much interest in aesthetics. He was a military commander and had a job to do; there was no need for intimidating decor - his title was fearsome enough on its own.

The doors slid open and the Admiral stepped in smoothly. Luke followed with his escort.

Just like the rest of the ship, Vader's private suite was simple and grey walled, filled only with the most necessary pieces of furniture and technical equipment. The one object that stood out though, was a large, black, multi-sided box in the centre of the room. Luke frowned as he failed to figure out what exactly the thing was and what is was used for.

Then a soft hissing sound filled the room and the box began to part in the middle, opening up to reveal a white walled chamber and there, seated in the middle of it was…

Darth Vader.

Luke tensed, but was careful not to let his fear get the better of him. He was doing well at the moment to keep his emotions controlled, but it was taking most of his concentration to bury them deep. And the fear emanating from the Admiral and the stormtroopers was not helping at all.

"Yes, Admiral?" Vader acknowledged as he turned to face them.

"The rebel Skywalker, My Lord. As you requested," Piett informed his superior officer. "And his weapon." The Admiral stepped forward to hand the lightsaber to Vader.

"Good work, Admiral." Vader's mechanical voice showed no hint of emotion, yet Luke could tell that he was pleased. "Leave him with me."

"Yes, My Lord," Piett responded, nodding and turning to the stormtroopers.

The grips on Luke's upper arms slackened and then disappeared entirely, leaving him feeling strangely alone. The troopers and the Admiral retreated and the doors swished closed. Luke stared at his father. This was it, then.

Now, his fate would be decided.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you again for the reviews, follows & favourites! They really make my day! This chapter's a little longer than the previous ones and for that reason I've only read through it once in its entirety. So, sorry if there are any mistakes that I've missed.**

* * *

><p>Leia bolted into the shuttle and slammed the door controls just in time. The doors slid shut just as something large and heavy collided with the outside of the ship, shaking the vessel and throwing Leia off balance.<p>

She scrambled to her feet and bolted towards the cockpit, screaming as she went. "Get us up! Get us up!"

"Just a minute!" Skyro yelled back, his voice echoing through the metallic insides of the shuttle.

Leia careened into the cockpit, sliding quickly into the copilot's seat next to Skyro and started flicking buttons. The sooner they were up in the air, the sooner they would be away from the danger now threatening to tear the ship apart.

"What _is_ that thing?" Skyro hissed as he pulled a lever and the engines ignited.

"I don't know," Leia replied, quickly checking the dials on the display. "But it wasn't friendly, that's for sure."

"Yeah, no kidding," Skyro replied sardonically as the ship rocked again on its supports. "Are we ready to fly?"

"Just one second… Yes! Get us out of here, Captain!"

Skyro jerked the controls and they lifted off the ground.

The creature slammed into the ship again and Leia gasped as they were knocked off course - straight towards the forest! Leia tensed automatically as the thick tree trunks rapidly approached the shuttle.

But then the ship lurched again! Although this time it was not of the creature's doing, but Skyro's. He had pulled hard on the controls and now they were spinning back in the other direction, away from the trees and climbing high into the sky.

But the ship was moving out of control.

Skyro grunted as he struggled to pull the ship out of its dizzying spin. The glittering lights of the stars in the night sky were flashing rapidly across the viewport and it was all Leia could do to not be sick. But soon enough the starlines slowed into dots and the shuttle came to a slow halt above the tree tops.

Leia and Skyro stared out into the open sky, the silence only broken by their rapid and heavy breathing. Leia closed her eyes and then opened them wide, trying to stop her head from spinning. Then she looked to Skyro and was met with a very bewildered look. Skyro's green eyes were glittering in disbelief as he looked between her and the viewport. Then his face lit up with a grin and she couldn't help but do the same.

"We did it!" she cried as she pulled him into a quick hug. Then she sunk back into her seat, still panting heavily.

Skyro grinned and returned to the controls, steering the ship up into the atmosphere.

"I told you you'd need me," he said with a smirk and a quick glance her way.

Leia stared at him for a few moments, pondering the change he had gone through - from wicked, merciless captor to cheeky, brave Rebel Captain. She most certainly liked the man he was now. She just hoped his mental evaluation would check out and confirm that he was indeed loyal to their cause. The feeling in her gut told her it would all go well, but she much prefered to rely on logic over mystical feelings. However, stressful situations often revealed people's true nature and Skyro's persona during their hurried escape from Arka III had been nothing like what she had seen from him before. The harsh glare from his Imperial title had been replaced with a thrilled glint brought on from their daring escape and the scared, confused body posture from after his collapse had been replaced by one of ease and enjoyment. He was a rebel at heart and Leia could tell that he enjoyed facing danger. He was brave and courageous and she was very glad for his presence. She could tell though that he was still deeply regretful of his earlier actions and was desperate to make up for them, even though the situation had been entirely out of his control. But right now he was focused on the task at hand and Leia admired his dedication.

"Thank you, Captain," she said quietly, earnestly. "Truly. I owe you my life."

"Hardly," Skyro replied, shaking his head. "You got me out of that mess as much as I did you. Therefore, the debt cancels out."

Leia smiled and shook her head. "Nevertheless, I am truly grateful, Captain. I hope you know that."

"I do, Your Highness," said Skyro as he removed his camouflage hat, revealing a mop of dark, messy hair that fell into his face. He brushed it away as he flicked a couple of buttons.

"Leia," she corrected. "You can call me Leia."

He looked at her. "I wouldn't dream of it, Your Highness," he said with a smile. "That would be impolite."

"I insist," Leia replied.

"Shouldn't you be sending out the coordinates of the rendezvous point, Your Highness?" Skyro asked. "My crew should have the ship up and running by now."

She shot him a mock glare for changing the subject, but turned to the control panel and started encrypting the coordinates.

"There," Leia said as she finished up the coding and transmitted the message, sending it on the same frequency that the scouts had used for their distress signal. "All done."

"Why Hoth?" Skyro asked as he noted the coordinates and transferred them to the navicomputer. "The Empire's already driven us out of that system once already. Who's to say they won't do it again?"

"Yes, but it wasn't that long ago. The Empire wouldn't expect us to return so soon," she explained. "And in any case, it's only a rendezvous point. We're not setting up a permanent base there this time."

She sighed. Their logic was nowhere near flawless, but they currently had no better options. And anyway, they had bigger issues to deal with at the moment, like the security leak that had led to the scout group being intercepted, the scout group themselves and their most peculiar mind control situation, and not to mention the loss of Luke Skywalker, the Alliance's shining hope.

Luke...

Leia's elation at having successfully escaped from Arka III disappeared immediately as she thought of Luke. She didn't even notice Skyro respond to the transmission from the scout group saying that they were entering Arka III's orbit and about to make the jump to lightspeed. She barely acknowledged Skyro's request to enter hyperspace. She felt numb and hollow to the core.

Her eyes glazed over as she stared at the mottled blue swirls of hyperspace. Amongst their billowing folds she felt tiny and useless. And she began to question whether it was worth it or not... The amount of sacrifices that she had had to make for the Alliance had been phenomenal and now with the loss of her two best friends, it had reached levels that she had not thought possible. She hadn't seen this coming. Not at all. She had known when she had signed up for the Rebellion that there would be losses, but she had never imagined that they would affect her personally. But their cause was right, and her companions were willing to make the sacrifices - sometimes a little _too_ willing - and she had to honour that. Her duty came first, her life second.

"Your highness?" came a voice from the void of hopelessness.

Leia ignored it.

But the voice was persistent and it was beginning to sound concerned.

"Princess Leia? Are you okay?"

Leia gave herself a mental shake as she realised that the voice belonged to Skyro, not some mystical being trying to drown her in sorrow.

She turned to him and murmured, "I'm fine."

"I think you should get some rest, Your Highness," Skyro advised earnestly as he looked at her with concern. "It's a long flight and I'm sure that once we reach the rendezvous point you'll be straight back into important meetings and what not. You could do with a few hours sleep."

"You'll be fine without me?" Leia asked quietly, already feeling groggy at the mention of sleep. And now that she was thinking about it, she couldn't exactly remember the last time she _had_ slept. Maybe a few hours rest was a good idea.

"Of course. I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, after all," Skyro replied with a smirk, reusing Leia's words. "And it's not like there are any vicious creatures on this ship that are likely to be after my throat. So, yes, Your Highness. I think I can manage."

Leia shook her head with a smile. "If you keep calling me that, _I_ might just be after you throat," she teased as she stood and went to leave the cabin. She heard Skyro laugh as she stepped out into the passageway and made her way to her sleeping quarters.

Once there, she collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes, not even bothering to change her clothes. She was so exhausted and her bed was just so comfy.

Her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep were of Luke and his brilliant blue eyes. Those eyes, so full of love and joy, that she might never see again.

.

.

.

"Father," Luke acknowledged.

Vader surveyed him, his mechanical breath softly hissing in the silence. Then he stepped out from the chamber - Luke still hadn't figured out exactly what it was - and strode slowly towards Luke, coming to a stop a mere metre away from him.

"So," came Vader's voice, deep and dark. "You have finally accepted the truth."

Luke was still as he stared at his father fixedly. Now that the Admiral and the stormtroopers had left, he was no longer overwhelmed by their fear and so was now able to successfully bury his own. He had regained the control of his emotions and he would not let Vader break it.

"Yes," Luke replied. "A certain portion of the truth."

When Vader did not respond, Luke continued. "I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, heroic Jedi Knight and my father."

"You will never utter that name again, Skywalker," hissed Vader. His tone was menacing but Luke was unperturbed. "I am no longer that man and I never will be again. Any hope that you might have of turning me back to the Light Side is useless."

"But there is good in you, father," Luke pressed earnestly. "I can feel it."

And he could. It was tiny, but it was there; a small, bright flame flickering in a universe of darkness. If he could just feed the fire then he might be able to find a way out of this mess.

"Tell me about my mother," Luke asked.

He could sense that Vader was momentarily taken aback by the question. But in seconds the Sith had regained his composure and had determined Luke's motives.

"Do not try to distract me, Skywalker," Vader growled, pointing Luke's lightsaber at him. "You know why you are here."

"And you know that I will not turn, father," Luke responded coolly. "I am a Jedi. I will not be so easily corrupted by the Dark Side."

"We shall see about that... my young apprentice." Vader's voice slowed at the title, speaking it with a hiss and a whisper of darkness.

Luke inhaled sharply at the sudden coldness that had filled the room, a coldness that had also penetrated his mind. He stumbled backwards as shadows flew at him, their black, misty tendrils reaching into the deepest parts of his mind, twisting their fingers into his brightest memories and tearing them to shreds. And then he felt it.

It was a weave of red against black, slithering like silk through the rough edges of the darkness. It was power… It was strength… And it was intoxicating. It felt... good. It felt... _right_.

"NO!" Luke screamed, forcing the darkness out of his mind and back at Vader with all his strength.

And suddenly his body was hot and shaking with exertion. He crumpled to the floor, heaving heavily. His mind was free again.

But not entirely.

The darkness had left just the slightest tinge, just the slightest stain. And with it just a hint of temptation. But Luke pushed it away, determined to bury it - bury it deep within his mind in an impenetrable cage, locking it and throwing away the key, never to be touched again. He enveloped himself in the Force, letting its light flow around him. It moved through him, softly brushing his mind, cleansing it of the darkness and restoring the brightness of his memories and emotions.

And then he was snapped back to the present by his father's voice. "You are powerful, young Jedi. You will make a great Sith."

Luke snapped his eyes open, his meditative trance slipping away just a little too early. He looked at his father, who was standing further back than he had remembered. Perhaps Vader had not been prepared for the sudden onslaught of dark energy rushing back at him and had been pushed backwards by the force of it.

"I will never join you," Luke spat, his determination still ringing clear. "And I will never become your apprentice."

If Vader's face wasn't covered in a mask, Luke was sure that he would be smirking right now. Vader had been impressed by his power, but he had also noticed that Luke had almost enjoyed the feel of the Dark Side. Almost, but not quite. Luke felt uneasy, but buried his concerns deep for now; he would deal with what had just happened later.

"Indeed," rumbled Vader, stepping closer to Luke, who was now picking himself up off the floor. "Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side, young one."

"I won't join you," Luke repeated through gritted teeth. He needed to heal. There was a sharp pain in his mind and in his body and it was getting worse every minute. "You'll have to kill me!"

"I don't plan on killing you, Luke," said Vader in a low voice. "But know that if you defy me, you will suffer a fate worse than death."

Luke raised his eyebrows and gave a short, disbelieving laugh - although it wasn't entirely disbelieving, just more of an act. He knew what Imperial torture involved and he knew he could withstand it for a long while. But what Vader had done before… when he had invaded Luke's mind and body with the Dark Side… If that became a part of the torture then Luke feared he might not last very long. All that dark energy in his mind had blocked his connection with the Force and the only way he had been able to escape was by using nearly all of the energy he had left in him. And now he was drained and no doubt the Imperial torture would keep him that way, making it impossible for him to protect himself from Vader's influence.

He needed to figure out a way to block the Dark Side. He needed some sort of mental shielding...

He tried to focus but it was all slipping just too fast. The pain was searing through his body now and he was fading into a misty blackness.

Vader's voice came to him as if through a thick fog. "I will give you one last chance, Luke. Join me and together we can overthrow the Emperor and restore peace to the galaxy. We can rule together, Luke, as father and son. We will be unstoppable."

Luke's knees began to sway and he felt his muscles go limp. But before the darkness of unconsciousness took him he was able to mutter a single word.

"Never."

.

.

.

He opened his eyes and was met with a sea of endless grey. Luke blinked and wondered where he was. From his position on the floor it looked like some sort of small room, painted entirely in grey and with no windows or furnishings besides the grey door in front of him. The door which did not have a handle or a release button. So, Luke noted, he was locked in.

He pulled himself up from the floor with a groan, feeling his muscles protest at the sudden movement. He rubbed his eyes. His head was spinning and his stomach felt queasy. There had to be a reason for this…

Oh, yes.

He was aboard the Executor, which meant… Luke glanced at the door again. Locked in...

He was in the cells.

Well, Luke thought drily, this could be worse. Much worse.

He clambered onto the grey, inbuilt bench at the end of the room and removed his camouflage poncho, folding the green material into a small bundle which he then placed at one end of the bench. He laid down slowly, resting his head on the makeshift pillow and closing his eyes once again.

He didn't have much time. He had to restore his energy and his focus before Vader returned to torture him. It was likely that the prison guards had been monitoring him and had already called for Vader, alerting him of the prisoner's awakening.

Focus.

Luke took a deep breath, running his mind through the healing techniques that Master Yoda had taught him almost a year ago back on Dagobah. He was now beginning to regret leaving his training so early. He had not been prepared for Vader's onslaught of the Dark Side and he was certainly not prepared to face it again.

_Yoda_, he called out through the Force, hoping his Master would hear him. But he was a long way from Dagobah and although Yoda was powerful, he was not _that_ powerful.

_Ben_, Luke tried this time. _Ben, help me_.

But there was no response. He was alone.

He let the Force flow through him. But its soothing energy was not as strong as it normally was and Luke began to feel uneasy. The queasiness in his stomach that he had momentarily forgotten about had returned and he was beginning to lose his focus. His fear was beginning to take control and his body was starting to tremble.

No. Stop it.

Luke gritted his teeth. But no matter how hard he tried, Vader's mental attack kept coming back to him.

The coldness... The darkness…

The shimmering red ribbon of power and victory.

Luke opened his eyes and sat up, abandoning his attempt to heal himself. He felt sick. Vader had given him a taste of the Dark Side and he had almost enjoyed it. All that power... It had whispered to him, tempting him with the power to stop the Emperor - to defeat the Empire once and for all. It had called him the only hope for the universe and had told him that he could restore peace and justice… make everything right.

"_Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny."_

Luke buried his face in his hands, digging his palms into cheeks harshly as he recalled Master Yoda's words.

"But it wasn't my choice," Luke whispered, caught somewhere between anger and distress. "It was forced upon me. It wasn't my choice!"

"_Consume you it will."_

"No," Luke whispered as he slipped his mind back into the Force. "No… I am a Jedi. I am not like my father. I will not turn to the Dark Side. I am a Jedi. I am not like my father. I will not turn…"

He didn't know how long he sat there, chanting those three sentences, convincing himself of their certainty. All the while, the Force flowed around him, stronger now, encouraged by his hope and determination.

"I am a Jedi. I am not like my father. I will not turn to the Dark Side."

"Don't be so certain."

Luke jerked out of his trance with a start. He hadn't noticed anyone enter his cell; he had been too caught up in his meditation. And now, it seemed, he would be putting his preparation to the test.

"Father," he acknowledged. His determination hardened and he gazed into Vader's mask with a challenge.

"Son," Vader rumbled back, his mechanical voice echoing slightly off the walls of the cell. "I trust you enjoyed your sleep."

"I made the most of it," Luke replied evenly.

"Good, because it was the last you'll be getting for a long while," said Vader as two stormtroopers appeared at his side.

Luke looked at them briefly and then turned his stare back on his father.

"You won't succeed," he said, the challenge from his gaze now ringing clear in his voice.

But Vader didn't deign a response. Instead, he motioned to the stormtroopers, who stepped forward and grabbed Luke roughly by the arms, pulling him to his feet once again.

Luke shot an unconcerned look at his father as he was escorted out of the cell. If there was one thing he had learned from his time with the Alliance, it was never let the enemy know what you're thinking - or feeling, in this case. The fear and anxiety that he had previously experienced in the face of Vader's torture was now securely under lock and key, and hopefully safe from the prying eyes of his father. Luke settled on a cool and unfazed exterior as he was steered down the hallway in the hopes that he might just live up to it.

He rounded a corner and was forced into a side room, the stormtroopers never slackening their grip lest he get away. There were two more stormtroopers in the room and they stepped to the side as he was brought in. Luke glanced around the room, eyeing the various pieces of equipment that lined the walls and filled the tables. Most of the items he couldn't recognise, and he hoped that he would not become acquainted with any of them any time soon.

His stormtrooper escorts pressed him towards a large contraption at the centre of the room. One half of it was covered in small, grisly utensils that glinted wickedly in the bright light whilst the other half held restraints and wires. Luke gritted his teeth, but did not struggle as he was strapped into the machine. Instead, he kept the Force within reach and his mind at peace. It was the only way he would survive this.

The doors slid open just as the final restraints were being put on him and Vader entered, his black cloak billowing behind him. He strode over to a machine by the wall and started pressing buttons.

A couple of lights on the other half of the contraption flickered on in front of Luke. He stared down at them, but his gaze was stolen by the sharp, pointed instruments that surrounded the lights, their piercing heads staring threateningly up at him. A couple of them were even starting to glow. Maybe going along with the whole torture thing wasn't a good idea.

He fidgeted slightly, testing the limits of his restraints. He was strapped down tight, but that was no problem for a Jedi. Reaching out through the Force, Luke imagined sliding his hand across the restraints and pulling them loose. Gradually, he felt the pressure on his chest and shoulders slacken, soon followed by the pressure on his wrists and legs. Through the Force he moved up to his head and worked at the strapping that was holding it to the contraption. He slid his imaginary hand along it and began to loosen it.

And then he was screaming as a searing, white hot pain shot through his body, leaving his nerves stinging in the aftermath. His muscles were tensed out of his control as he waited for it to happen again. He tried to control his breathing, but his heart was beating wildly and his lungs were screaming for oxygen.

His body went rigid as another round of pain shot through him. It was a blinding, overwhelming pain and it painted his vision red. He was screaming for it to stop long after the initial shock passed through him. It was as if every fibre in his body was on fire, flaming and wailing in agony. His breaths were ragged now and his muscles were aching.

The wait between the second and third shock seemed longer, although Luke couldn't actually tell if it was or wasn't. He didn't even try to calm himself this time. It wasn't worth it. The pain was excruciating and like nothing he had ever imagined.

Once again, he had not been fully prepared for what Vader had thrown at him.

Luke screamed again as the third shock jolted him forward against his restraints, shaking his body viciously. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to loosen them…

Fourth shock. Fifth shock. Sixth shock.

All he could see now was red. A bright, glaring red that was quickly fading into white and threatening to push him into unconsciousness. He could feel every bone and every muscle in his body shaking with pain, but at the same time, he couldn't. The room was echoing with his screams, but he couldn't hear them. He felt lost and he wanted to die. Just anything to get rid of the pain.

He hung limp in his restraints now, shuddering uncontrollably as he waited for the seventh shock to light his body on fire yet again. Maybe this time he would finally fall unconscious from the pain. Oh, how he hoped.

But as the seconds slipped by, he began to think that maybe it wasn't coming.

If he was going to have any chance at escaping torture, now would be the time. Gathering what little strength he had left and reaching a hand out to the Force, Luke tore out of his restraints and pushed the nearest stormtroopers into the walls. They collided with dull thuds and collapsed to the floor, but Luke didn't even notice.

Because the coldness was back and it was chilling him to the core. He was shaking uncontrollably, teeth chattering and fingers curled. His body collided with the cold tile floor and it was like fire - a cold, bitter, burning fire that pierced through his skin and murdered his nerves in a way that the torture hadn't even come close to.

He was screaming and he couldn't stop.

The darkness was invading his mind, breaking easily through his mental preparation and shattering all connection he had with the light touch of the Force. It slid through his memories and his emotions, pushing them aside and making way for the glimmer of red, the glimmer of lust and temptation.

But then the onslaught was gone as soon as it had come and Luke gasped in the air that was suddenly hot and choking him. He tried to push himself up off the floor but he was too weak. His muscles were shattered and his limbs were shaking.

"Your resistance is futile, Skywalker, and it has now led to your destruction."

Vader's dark, mechanical tones vibrated through Luke's skull, magnified tenfold by his condition. He let himself be picked up by the now recovered stormtroopers and didn't even try to resist as he was dragged unceremoniously along the floor and hefted onto a cold, metal table. The tight pressures of various restraints returned, but Luke knew that they weren't there to prevent him from escaping - they were there to hold him down so he didn't wind up accidentally killing himself during whatever torture that was coming his way.

He gasped as something sharp pierced through the fabric of his fatigues and into his upper left arm. The feeling was uncomfortable and Luke's vision began to swim as whatever drug they were injecting him with began to infiltrate his system. He tried to push it back, tried to dissolve it with the Force. But the Force wasn't there. He was utterly disconnected and alone. Vader had obviously tortured Jedi before and clearly knew the best ways of damaging them to get what he wanted.

But, no matter how much damage Vader caused him, Luke swore that he would never give in.

His eyelids fluttered closed as he began to feel drowsy. But he wasn't relaxed by the feeling, even though it was the most plausible reaction to approaching unconsciousness. No; he knew better than that. Vader had said that he would not be getting an ounce of sleep from now on, so whatever drug they were using clearly had a different purpose and the drowsiness was most likely just a side effect.

Yep. Definitely just a side effect.

Luke's mind was suddenly sharp and his eyes burst wide open. But what he saw was not the ceiling above him.

It was space.

Billions of flickering white lights spattered across a black canvas and he was right in the middle of it, alone and unprotected. He was floating, choking, suffocating on the nothingness that was the space around him and he flailed about in the abyss, losing all sense of direction, time and feeling.

And then he heard screams. But they were not his for a change and they echoed around him, through him. It was all in his mind, he told himself; sound doesn't travel in space. But the screams were pressing in on him, growing louder and more pained. Luke covered his ears in an attempt to drown out the voices. But they carried on in his mind.

And then there was silence. Complete and utter silence - and Luke knew better than to trust its welcoming emptiness. It was the calm before the storm, the intake of breath before the explosion. And oh, did it explode.

Luke's body arched against its restraints as his mind expanded faster than the speed of light, breaking the edges of his consciousness and tearing at the very fabric of time and space. Visions came to him - brief glimpses of images and emotions.

A flash of brilliant torpedos disappearing impossibly into a small hole.

Breathed out relief and hurried retreat.

Then a million voices crying out in pain, only to be suddenly silenced.

Luke tried to push the memory away but it kept repeating over and over, each time more vivid than the last.

He was a murderer. He was a monster.

The screams of terror pierced into his very soul, threatening to tear him apart from his very core of existence. But then a soft, comforting wave of warmth rushed over him and he grabbed onto it for dear life. It danced around him, thick and dense, drowning out the screams and the visions. He let it envelop him. He let it fill his mind. It was comforting and it was reassuring. It whispered to him. It told him it was okay. He sunk into its depths and he felt at ease. There was no light now, no visions. Just expansive darkness as far as the eye could see. And Luke felt like he belonged there, wrapped in the blanket of darkness. He felt connected, like every strand of the black string that made up the fabric of space was attached to his fingers, ready to be moved at will like a puppet. And he felt content, watching the darkness change around him. It dispersed amongst itself, shifting into different shades of black that Luke hadn't even realised were possible until now. The different blacks now mixed with dark greys and deep reds, swirling together to form…

Wait.

Luke shot out of the trance the instant he realised what it was. It had been more subtle this time, more patient and he had been fooled by its disguise. He had been told that the Dark Side was cunning but he had never properly understood that statement until now. It had lured him into a false sense of security and he had lowered his defences. He had accepted it with open arms, not realising its true nature until it was too late.

Luke stared up at the ceiling, his mind reeling and threatening to collapse in upon itself. He couldn't make sense of anything right now other than the fact that he had just _enjoyed_ the feel of the Dark Side. It had been unlike any of his previous chilling encounters and he should have been disgusted at the feel, but instead he had enjoyed it, revelled in it even. He had felt powerful, like the universe was his to control and he had felt at home.

He tasted bile at the back of his throat. What was he _thinking_?

But he didn't have time to consider it any longer. The restraints were ripped off of him and he was dragged off the table. His feet collided roughly with the floor and he realised that he was still too weak from the torture to stand on his own. The stormtroopers draped his arms over their shoulders and he hung limp in their support as he was dragged out of the room and back to his cell.

Now that he was out of Vader's presence and the influence of the Dark Side, he felt cold and alone. The comforting warmth that the Dark Side had provided him had now been replaced by an icy chill. Luke tried to reach out to the Force, but found that he couldn't. His grasp on the mystical energy had been severed and it would take time to stitch itself back together.

A door slid open and he was tossed to the floor. Rough hands pinned him still as something sharp dug into his neck. The needle pierced into a vein and yet another drug was forced into his system. Gritting his teeth at the uncomfortable feeling, Luke tried to pull away, but failed. Then the grip on him disappeared and the door swished closed.

It was cold and he was shivering. Unconsciousness danced tauntingly at him from the edges of his mind but he couldn't reach it. And the darkness, with its heart of blood, whispered at the corners of his vision.

But he would not give in.

He was a Jedi.

He was not like his father.

And he would not turn to the Dark Side.

.

.

.

The light of the twin moons gave the snowy landscape an eerie feel, casting long shadows across the bitter ground and throwing the bare trees into sharp relief. The white snow was shrouded in a blue mist and light icy flakes dusted the ground, softening the sharp feel of the harsh environment.

But that softness was only a disguise.

People were screaming in the distance, their voices ringing clear through the cold air but broken up by the sounds of blaster fire. Bright flashes of light lit up the surroundings as shots were fired and targets were hit or missed. Explosions rang out and the white snow soon became speckled with red.

Black footsteps moved across the landscape, creating impressions in the snow that were swept away only moments after they were made. And following those footsteps was a thick veil of darkness, its menacing cloud threatening to choke both the light of the moons and the lives of the people fighting.

But then a sharp _snap-hiss_ rang out and a green blade of light pierced through the veil. The darkness retaliated quickly, emitting a crimson blade of fire that swung for the neck, ready to decapitate and conquer.

Leia bolted awake, gasping for air and covered in cold sweat. Eyes closed, she clutched at the blankets around her with shaky palms, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

Leia opened her eyes and found the origin of the voice. Skyro was at her bedside and was looking at her with the utmost concern.

Taking another couple of breaths to steady herself, Leia nodded and murmured, "I'm fine."

"You keep saying that, Your Highness, but I really don't believe you."

"_Skyro_."

"Yes, I know, Your Highness," Skyro replied quickly with a roll of his eyes. "You can take care of yourself - and I trust you on that, but just remember that it's okay to admit that you're not fine and that it's okay to admit that you need help. Shutting yourself off from everyone will not pay off in the long run."

"Right…" Leia muttered, not exactly paying attention to Skyro's words. She couldn't shake the nightmare from her mind. It had been so vivid. Vivid and frightening, but only a dream.

"We're approaching the Hoth system now, Your Highness. We'll be dropping out of hyperspace soon."

Skyro's words struck a chord and Leia's mind snapped to attention, the nightmare quickly forgotten.

"Right," she said, sliding out of her bed and brushing the creases out of her clothes. "Then let's go."

Skyro hesitated at her abrupt movement, most likely wanting to prevent her from leaving the bed in the interest of her health, but he shook his head quickly and followed her out the door. Their time to relax was up and now they had to face the Alliance, both Leia and Skyro knew that.

Leia slid into the copilot's seat once again as Skyro slid into the seat next to her. She flipped a couple of switches and checked the dials. All was well for their arrival. She looked to the countdown on the display, ticking down the seconds until it was time to drop out of hyperspace.

Skyro placed his hand on the lever and pulled as the clock reached zero. The mottled blue of hyperspace disappeared in an instant, transforming into brilliant white star lines and then coming to an abrupt halt. Ahead of them was the Rebel fleet, suspended silently in the black void of space with that very familiar white orb hovering just below. Leia diverted her gaze from the ice planet and the memories it brought up and instead turned her focus on the ship that they were approaching: Home One.

Skyro pulled the ship into the hangar bay with ease and they landed softly on the shiny floor. The cabin depressurised with a hiss as Leia and Skyro headed to the door. Leia paused with her hand on the release like she had done back on Arka III with Luke. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and pressed the button. The door slid open and she stepped out.

Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar were awaiting her at the entrance of the hangar bay, along with a handful of other important delegates. Leia squared her shoulders and stepped towards them.

She had a lot of explaining to do.

.

.

.

Leia sat at the table, shoulders slumped and head in her hands. It hadn't taken as long as she had expected to explain the situation, but the discussion that had ensued… Well, it was an absolute nightmare, to be brutally honest. Leia looked at the datapad that lay in front of her, blinking out the glare from her tired eyes and she sighed quietly as she looked at the time. Three hours and counting since she had returned and she had been locked up in the command room the entire time. The various Commanders and other high profile personnel were still arguing heavily, but Leia was paying them no attention. Instead, she flicked through her datafeed and keyed for an update on the scout group.

Immediately after her explanation of their supposed mental manipulation, the scouts had been promptly moved to the medical ward and put into isolation. They were now undergoing the psychological evaluations that would ultimately decide their fate with the Rebel Alliance. Leia scanned the report and sighed. The testing would take another couple of hours at least before they could start forming conclusions.

Flicking the datapad off, Leia leaned back in her chair and tuned into the current conversation. And she immediately disliked what she was hearing.

The revelation of Luke's surrender had shocked everyone in the command room into a stunned silence for at least a minute. Leia had watched as confusion had slowly spread across their faces and then a couple of them had realised. So, _that_ was why the Imperials had retreated so suddenly. _That_ was why they had come out of the attack in relatively one piece. As one of the Commanders commented on this, the others' expressions soon turned from confusion to gratitude. And then someone had had the nerve to suggest that Luke's surrender was a traitorous act. It had made no sense at all in Leia's opinion and she had been outraged at the accusation.

And she still was. But she had lost the will to argue. No one was in their right mind at the moment, and Leia knew that if she pushed too hard, she might just end up causing more damage than good.

But she still didn't understand why everyone had taken to the suggestion so hungrily. Well, almost everyone. Mon Mothma was seated across from Leia and she was one of the few who had not yet voiced their opinions on the matter. But Leia knew that she had the Rebel leader's support; Luke had proved his loyalty to the Alliance countless times. There was no way that he was a traitor - and there was most definitely no way that he was an Imperial spy. Where that most recent accusation had come from, Leia didn't even want to know, but it was giving her a headache and her anger was beginning to bubble out of control.

She needed to get out of here. Shooting Mon Mothma a look, she silently pleaded her request to leave. Mon Mothma gave a slight understanding nod and Leia felt significantly relieved. She slid from her chair and exited the room unnoticed, taking her datapad with her.

Winding quickly through the white corridors of Home One, Leia felt herself becoming increasingly lightheaded. First the loss of Luke and then the accusations… It was all too much to deal with in such a short time period.

Slamming her hand on the door release to her room, she stormed through the doors and collapsed on her bed, screaming into her pillow. But her screams of anger were soon turned into sobs as her emotions broke loose. And for once, she allowed them full reign. She was alone and no one was watching. No one at all. And that was the problem.

She closed her eyes and cried herself to sleep.

.

.

.

He could hear screaming in the distance. It echoed off the walls and reverberated through his mind, coming from every direction and yet none at all.

Luke stared up at the ceiling through watery eyes. The bright lighting of the torture chamber, as he had come to call it, was burning his retinas, leaving black, swirling marks across his vision. He tried to blink them away but they kept coming back, constantly provoked by the harsh ceiling lights.

He didn't know how long he had been there, strapped to the table with various drugs pumping through his system, keeping him awake. Time had seemed to slow down. It felt like weeks, yet in reality it had probably been only a couple of hours - a day, at most. But he really couldn't tell.

The coldness hadn't left since his first round of torture and it had stayed with him throughout the rounds that had followed. He had been completely alone during those painful hours. The Force never came to him, not even the Dark Side. And now he was craving its mystical touch, the expansive feeling inside his mind and the insight that it brought him. And he didn't care which side came to him first - the Light or the Dark. He would welcome either one. He knew he should care. But he didn't.

Rolling his head to the side, Luke watched groggily as the doors slid open and Vader swept in. But for once he did not move to the control panel on the wall. Instead, Vader strode to Luke's side and surveyed him.

"I won't… join you," Luke whispered hoarsely, his voice cracked and broken from the torture.

"I will not accept that response," Vader rumbled.

"Too… bad," Luke coughed, trying to bring his voice back to its full potential but failing miserably. "I'm a… Jedi."

"A Jedi does not crave the Dark Side," stated Vader. "Yet you do."

Luke gritted his teeth and shifted against his restraints. "No, I don't," he spat, but he wasn't quite sure how honest he was being - both with Vader and with himself.

What he needed right now was the Force. He needed the healing and the spiritual connection in order to cleanse his body and regain his strength. Yet it was not what he _wanted_.

What he wanted right now was the taste of power - the feeling of ultimate control that had welcomed him with open arms when the healing side of the Force had rejected him and left him to suffer. That feeling had enveloped him, protecting him from the coldness of reality and filling him with hot, burning strength.

But that feeling belonged to the Dark Side. And Luke knew he shouldn't want it.

He pushed the desire away with all his strength, tensing his muscles as much as he could and imagining throwing every hint of darkness from his body.

"Search your feelings, Luke," Vader said quietly, darkness once again simmering at the edges of his words. "Accept the truth. Only through the power of the Dark Side can you overthrow the Emperor and restore peace to the galaxy. It is your destiny."

Destiny…

"No," Luke breathed. It was not his destiny. He was the shining hope of the Alliance and that meant that his destiny was to save the people of the galaxy. And the only way to do that was by destroying the iron grip of the Empire... Luke's brow creased. That sounded awfully like what Vader was saying…

"Trust your feelings, Luke. They will lead you to the path of victory."

What if… No. Luke scrunched his eyes closed and shook his head. Ben and Yoda had faith in him - had faith in his fate. But what if they had been wrong? What if the only way he could accomplish his destiny was through the power of the Dark Side…

Luke felt a tingle in the back of his mind. Frowning, he probed the area.

And was delighted by what he found.

There, in the deep recesses of his mind was a slither of darkness, a whispering tendril of the Dark Side. He called to it, beckoning it closer. Oh, how he longed for the touch of the Force once again. But as the darkness began to sweep through his mind, he froze. And his delight turned instantly to horror. Because this darkness was different from the others. It still held the same burning lust for power, but it had not originated from Vader's influence; it had not been placed there through mental manipulation.

It had been there all along.

That tendril of darkness belonged to him.

It was his.

There was darkness already within him. And there had been for a long time.

Luke recoiled with a shudder as he forced the darkness back where it had come from, feeling utterly disgusted with himself. Vader had awoken feelings in him that he never knew he had - desires he never thought possible. And he had welcomed them because that was his true nature. Only now could he see it.

But he refused to believe it.

"No," Luke said roughly, forcing the syllable out in a loud, clear voice. "I will never join you!"

"Very well," Vader replied coldly. And then he turned away from Luke, moving towards the control panel on the wall.

Luke braced himself for the pain to come; he locked the slither of darkness away in the depths of his mind where he couldn't reach it and then put all his effort into focusing on the things that were good.

Leia… Han… The Alliance… Ben...

Luke gritted his teeth and let out a strangled scream as a jolt of white hot electricity sizzled through him. But it didn't hurt as much as before.

He was determined now. He knew his weaknesses.

And he would not let them be taken advantage of.

He would win.

.

.

.

Leia's chin slipped from her hand and she jerked awake. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she mentally cursed herself for falling asleep whilst working.

She looked down at the datapad on the desk in front of her and instantly snapped out of her daze. She had two messages, one of which was marked important. Tapping the display to open the file, Leia quickly skimmed the report and felt relief wash over her.

The psychological evaluations had been completed and the scouts had been cleared. This was good news. Very good news, indeed. Earlier discussions had shown that many on the command council were opposed to the scouts returning to service. Leia had seen their point - the scouts' situation was completely unheard of and they would make a very great threat to the Alliance if there was any chance that they might turn again. Whilst the issue of their allegiance had now been resolved, the issue of what had happened to them still remained a mystery. According to the report she had been sent, there was no evidence of mental tampering and no evidence of drugs in their systems, at least, as far as the medical examiners could tell.

But her puzzlement and concern over the situation was nothing in comparison to her joy. At least one good thing had come of this. Her belief in Skyro and his companions had been true and now they were free to return to their service.

She flicked the next message open and read it eagerly. It was from Skyro, explaining, with obvious delight, that he had been cleared and released, although he would continue to be monitored over the next couple of days just to make absolute certain. She smiled and was about to type a reply when suddenly there was a knock on her door.

Whoever it was didn't even wait for a response. The doors slid open and Leia turned around with a glare, ready to snap at the person who had interrupted her time alone.

But she stopped instantly at the sight of the young man's face. Visible concern was etched on his features and he was shifting from foot to foot with a sense of urgency.

"What is it?" Leia asked quickly.

"Sorry for the interruption, Your Highness," the messenger apologised rapidly. "But we have intercepted a video transmission."

"And?" Leia asked, not entirely sure why it concerned her. But from the look on the man's face, she knew it was something important. Extremely important.

"It…" he faltered slightly and Leia felt her impatience rise. "It's an Imperial transmission and…"

The man looked like he didn't want to continue, but Leia raised her eyebrows at him and he took a deep breath.

"It concerns Commander Skywalker."


	4. Chapter 4

Leia hurried through the corridors of Home One, moving as fast as she could to reach the command room. She slowed slightly as she entered a busy hallway, not wanting to spark concern in any of the patrons; there was already enough commotion on the Alliance's command ship; she didn't need to add to it.

The young messenger struggled to keep up with her long strides and was beginning to sound breathless as he explained the situation to her at her request.

"The transmission was intercepted just over an hour ago," he panted as they rounded a corner. "Our tech teams worked as fast as they could to decrypt it. High Command has been informed and they are awaiting your presence."

Just over an hour to decrypt, Leia mused. That was either exceptionally good work from the Rebel techs or just lazy encryption from the Imperials. And neither situation seemed likely. Not that the techs were bad at their jobs or anything - it just usually took a lot longer to decrypt an Imperial transmission, especially a video. But that would mean that the Imperials hadn't been as careful with their encryption as they usually were. And that meant that there was most likely more to this situation than just what appeared on the surface. The Empire was never lazy and they changed their encryption codes on a regular basis. They would not slip up now - especially when the transmission concerned Luke Skywalker, one of the greatest threats to their tyrannical government. No, the interception of this transmission had not been pure chance; it had been meant for them.

Leia was just about to ask where in the galaxy the signal had come from, but she stopped short as she reached the command room. The doors slid open and she took a step in.

But that was as far as she went.

Because her attention had immediately been caught by the viewscreen and the footage that it was playing. And she was horrified. She didn't even notice the command council turn around to face her and she especially didn't notice the sympathetic expressions on their faces. She just stared at the viewscreen, her mouth hanging slightly open and her heart racing a thousand miles per second. She felt sick. Just everything about the footage made her feel sick.

And not only did it make her feel sick, but it also brought back memories of her own Imperial torture. But that seemed like nothing to what Luke was experiencing.

He was strapped to some twisted looking machine and every now and then a bolt of electricity would shoot through him, arching his back and straining his muscles, making him writhe in pain. And he was screaming. That was what struck Leia the worst - his agonising, painful, strangled screams that never ceased. Even when the electricity stopped, Luke kept on screaming, pleading it for it to end.

Leia slowly made her way over to the command council who were gathered around the viewscreen, her gaze never leaving Luke as the footage looped over and over. This was all her fault. She should have done something! She could have stopped this!

Then the viewscreen went blank and Luke disappeared. But the image of him straining against his restraints and the sound of his screams never left Leia's mind. She blinked and swallowed back the emotions that were once again threatening to break loose. It amazed her how quickly she had lost her self control over the past day. Years of diplomatic training and interaction had taught her how to control her emotions and not let them show. But the events of one day had blown her training to pieces and she was right back to where she had started: an over-emotional youth whose lack of self restraint might just end up being her doom.

"Princess Leia," a quiet voice addressed her, snapping her out of her daze. "This is distressing footage of Commander Skywalker - "

Leia looked to the person who was speaking and instantly felt her insides churn with anger as she recognised him and remembered the last time she had seen him.

"And you had the nerve to call him a traitor," she snapped angrily, cutting the man off. The man stuttered and looked significantly taken aback by her outburst. "You -"

"Leia."

Leia bit off the insult that she had been about to throw at the man and turned to face Mon Mothma, who was giving her a disapproving yet weary look.

"Those accusations have been recalled and apologised for," Mon Mothma continued calmly.

"Good," was all Leia could respond to that statement. She was still fuming inside at the man standing opposite her - the one who had first made the accusation. Her outburst had stunned him into silence and now he was standing quietly to the side, lips locked lest he attract her wrath again. It was all very well and good that he had apologised for his actions, but Leia was not in the mood to forgive him. The accusation that Luke was a traitor had hurt her deeply and shaken her confidence in the command council. A lot of them had so readily turned on Luke that Leia feared for the stability of the Alliance. They were already fighting one war; they didn't need another.

But at the moment it seemed that the interception of the horrifying footage had brought everyone back into their right minds. If she was going to press them for anything, now would be the time.

"Were we able to locate the origin of the transmission?" Leia asked, pulling herself back together.

Mon Mothma gave her an approving look at her change, but shook her head.

"The signal was bounced around too much before it reached us," she explained. "We were able to narrow it down to a number of sectors, but no more than that."

Leia nodded. That would make it hard to plan a rescue.

Taking a deep breath, Leia mentally prepared herself for what she was about to say next. No doubt everyone was thinking it but no one had as of yet had the guts to voice it.

"So, the Imperials know we're here," she said. A couple of people shifted uncomfortably and a grim mood fell over the council. "That transmission was intended for us. They made sure that we would intercept it and decrypt it with relative ease, but were careful enough to not give away their location. We don't know where they are, but they know where we are. You all know what that means."

She looked around at the council and she could tell from their faces that they did indeed know what it meant.

"We have a security leak," Admiral Ackbar acknowledged grimly.

Leia nodded.

"But we knew that right from the start," said the man who had called Luke a traitor. Leia shot him a glare, but he wasn't meeting her gaze. "Right from the beginning of this mess, we knew we had a security leak," he continued. "How else would the Empire have known the route of the scout ship? Whoever is leaking information knew about the scout groups and they knew the location of the rendezvous point."

"That is correct, Commander Lears," said Ackbar, nodding in the man's direction. "And it makes for a lot of potential suspects. But that is not our major concern at the moment; Commander Skywalker is."

Lears gave a short, humourless laugh. "Oh, and he should be," he muttered.

Leia shot him another glare. "What are you implying?" she growled at him through gritted teeth, her patience wearing thin with the man.

Lears' eyes flickered around the council, then focused on Leia. He had everyone's attention and he was planning on making the most of it.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, raising his neatly trimmed eyebrows in a question. When he didn't get a response other than Leia's fiery glare, he continued, "Commander Skywalker is the security leak."

Leia barely resisted the urge to slap him. "And, so, what you're saying is that Commander Skywalker, the hero of the Rebellion and probably the most loyal person on this ship, gave the Imperials information and then handed himself over to be brutally tortured?" she snapped back at him, waving her hand at the viewscreen. "I fail to see your logic, Commander."

"No, you're too blinded by your love for him to see the truth," Lears retorted. "Can't you see? It's all just an act! Skywalker knew the routes of our scouts ships and he was one of the few to know the location of the rendezvous point before it was issued to the rest of the fleet with the retreat order. And if you think about it, Your Highness, how else would the Imperials know of our location considering that they left _before_ our retreat order was given and the coordinates for the rendezvous were sent out?"

"Anyone could have sent out the coordinates after we arrived," Leia growled back.

"But we would have known," countered Lears. "All transmissions from the fleet are monitored. Anyone trying to leak information would be caught."

"Then why wasn't Commander Skywalker caught when he was supposedly leaking the routes of the scout ships?" Leia bit back with venom. She would not let Lears win this.

"Well, I wouldn't underestimate him, Princess," Lears responded darkly. "He is a Jedi and they cannot be trusted. The only other known Force user is Darth Vader, and if you were Skywalker wouldn't you do anything to be reunited with one of your kind?"

Leia laughed. Well, that was enlightening. "So, that's your reasoning behind all this?" she asked, eyebrows raised in dark amusement. "Commander Skywalker being a Jedi is what makes him guilty? If that is your stance, Commander, then your knowledge on the topic is clearly limited. The fact that Luke is a Jedi is what should immediately clear him of such insulting accusations. The Jedi are protectors of the peace not its enemies and they should be the least of your concerns next to the threat of the Empire. Luke would never align himself with Vader. The two are as different as night and day, Commander, so don't you dare accuse Commander Skywalker of being a traitor. His surrender was a brave act and is what secured my safety as well as yours. So, if you don't have anything useful to say on the matter of his rescue, then I suggest you leave."

There was silence as Leia glared at Lears and he back at her. Everyone else in the room was tensed, not game enough to make a move against either of the two warring council members. Leia was visibly fuming, fists clenched and jaw tight - a very intimidating figure.

Lears narrowed his eyes but drew back.

"You have too much faith in your friend," he hissed as he collected his datapad from the table in front of him. "One day you'll see the truth."

And with that, Lears stormed from the room.

The rest of the command council watched silently as the doors swished closed and then they turned their attention to Leia. She tensed, expecting to be dismissed from the meeting due to her explosive behaviour.

But Admiral Ackbar simply turned to the council and said, "Now, to the matter of Commander Skywalker's rescue."

Leia let out the breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding and turned her mind to the meeting, momentarily letting go of her anger towards Lears and her fear and concern for Luke. Her friend was running out of time and they needed a plan of attack. Mind you, they also needed a location, but for now, the best they could do was come up with a few good rescue strategies. The rest they would work out later.

If they ever figured out where the Imperials were, that is.

.

.

.

Luke stared blankly up at the grey ceiling as he laid flat on his back on the floor of his cell. He didn't have enough energy or enough strength to pull himself up onto the bench. It had taken all of his willpower just to reach up and pull his poncho from the cold, grey slab, draping it haphazardly over his shivering body in a hopeless attempt to keep his body temperature normal.

Every now and then he would shudder as screams pierced his mind and the memory of the bright, blazing electricity returned to him, making his body tense in anticipation of the white hot pain. But it never came.

Vader, it seemed, had given up on torturing him. After his outright and final refusal to join the Dark Side, Vader had almost killed him, sending shocks of electricity through him at a murderous pace. Luke was still shaking now from the intensity of the pain and it had been hours since that final round of torture. But he had never given in, even as he had felt death making its approach. He would rather die than join the Empire and it seemed that Vader had finally realised that. The torture had stopped abruptly and Luke had then been pumped full of drugs once again. He had then been tossed back into his cell and he hadn't had contact with anyone since.

Or at least he thought he hadn't. Luke frowned. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember what exactly had happened after he had been locked up again. He supposed there wasn't much to remember, but something seemed off. It was like parts of his memory were missing. There were black spaces where there should be colour. He had been awake the entire time - the drugs had made sure of that - but it was as if he had been sleeping. And now that he was awake, his dreams were fading fast from his grip. _What had happened?_

His instincts told him that it was all in his mind and that he was just overthinking it. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something might have happened between then and now. What if he had told them something…

No. He would never let anything slip about the Alliance. And, after all, that was not what Vader was after. He was after Luke and nothing more. Vader's path to victory was not through petty secrets and trivial pieces of information - it was through Luke, his son, who had the potential to become the most powerful Sith ever, if he could be turned.

Luke sighed and moved the troubling thoughts to the back of his mind where they wouldn't bother him. There was nothing he could do about it now anyway. He would just have to remain confident in himself and in the fact that he would never willingly betray the Alliance.

.

.

.

Leia stepped into the lift and keyed for one of the lower levels. The meeting had gone surprisingly well. They had come up with a number of decent rescue strategies that would work in a number of situations, giving the leeway they required for their current lack of knowledge about the Imperial fleet's position. Once she had been satisfied with their progress and the detail of their plans, she had called the meeting off and made her way to the turbolifts. Because something else had come up in the meeting that she had been too distracted to see before.

The lift came to a stop and Leia exited into yet another white-walled corridor.

The imperials knew their location, yet they had not made any move to attack. All they were doing was taunting them, using the torture footage to make them scared. But why hold off? A surprise attack immediately after another surprise attack would have been a crushing move had the Empire chosen to make it. But they hadn't. And that meant that they had something else planned.

Leia stepped into a small room filled with technical equipment and people sitting at desks tapping on datapads. She made her way through the rows of tables to the door at the end of the room and knocked twice on its shiny, white surface.

They had been unable to determine the origin of the transmission due to the bouncing technique that the Imperials had used. However, if they were to receive another one, they would be able to narrow the location down significantly, even perhaps to the point of knowing the exact system. And Leia had a feeling that another transmission was coming their way. It was a good tactic - taunting the enemy on purpose but making it look like an accident. The Imperials obviously knew that they would ultimately reveal their location and that the Rebels would then come screaming in, weapons drawn to save their Commander. And that clearly meant it was a trap.

The door slid open and Leia was surprised to see the face that was welcoming her in.

"Skyro!" she exclaimed at the sight of the young captain. "I wasn't expecting to find you down here. What are you up to?"

"Oh, not much, Your Highness," commented Skyro casually as he ushered her into the small, white room. "Just popped in to see if I could give my buddy, Enzo, here a hand," he said, gesturing to the young man seated in front of a computer display.

"Just a hand?" Enzo repeated incredulously as he spun around on his chair to face Skyro and Leia. "Don't let him fool you with his modesty, Your Highness. Skyro's the reason we were able to narrow the trace on the Imperial transmission down as far as we could."

"Oh?" Leia asked, looking to Skyro with raised eyebrows.

He shrugged, mumbling, "It was nothing."

"Nothing?" Leia repeated. "Pilot, soldier, skilled technician… Is there anything you can't do, Captain?" she asked with a smile.

"Well…" replied Skyro, scratching his head and looking playfully thoughtful. "Not that I can think of," he replied with a smirk.

Enzo rolled his eyes. "The way he goes from modesty to arrogance in a millisecond never fails to amaze me," he murmured. Then he turned to Leia and stood up, offering her his hand. "I'm Enzo, by the way. Enzo Rendar."

Leia took his hand and shook it with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Enzo," she replied. "I'm Leia."

Enzo nodded in acknowledgement and then sat back down, swivelling to face the data display once again. "I'm assuming you're here to see the data we obtained from the transmission, Your Highness?"

"You are correct," she replied, leaning down to look at the display as Enzo brought up a map of the galaxy.

"So, these are the sectors that the Empire could potentially have been in when making the transmission," Enzo informed, pointing to the various star systems encased in a large yellow circle on the map. "Due to the bouncing, there are also a couple of possible candidates outside of this main region." He tapped on the screen and two green circles appeared a fair distance away from main yellow one. "Although it's unlikely."

"I see," Leia murmured, scanning the map. "And if we receive another transmission, how much further will you be able to narrow it down?"

"We'd pretty much have them," chimed in Skyro. Leia turned to look at him. "Assuming, of course, that they made both of the transmissions from the same place."

"So, we would have the system?"

"Yes," Skyro replied. "We'd have the system, the Imperials and Commander Skywalker."

Skyro's grin slipped as he said Luke's name.

"Speaking of Commander Skywalker," he said quietly. "I'm very sorry for what has happened. I know I'm not supposed to know about what the transmission contained, but I had to have it open when I was working on tracing the signal. I won't speak a word of it to anyone, Your Highness, I promise. I wouldn't dare to, anyway. It's my fault, after all. All of this is my fault…"

"It's okay, Skyro," Leia whispered as she put a comforting hand on his arm. "It's not your fault."

"No, but what if he dies?" Skyro looked panic stricken. "If he dies, then it's my fault! I don't think I could live with myself if that happened!"

"Skyro," Leia murmured, holding him still and looking him in the eyes. "Listen to me. It's not your fault. You didn't have control over your actions and there was nothing you could do. I don't blame you for this, Skyro, and neither does anyone else. It's not your fault, okay? It's mine."

Skyro looked at her questioningly and was about to argue her last statement when she cut him off.

"But that doesn't matter right now. Luke's strong. He'll hold out," she whispered, more to herself than to Skyro. "We'll get him back."

"I hope so, Your Highness," Skyro murmured back. "I really do."

"So do I. And would you quit calling me that?" she added playfully with a smirk.

"No chance, Your Highness," Skyro replied, his melancholy expression replaced instantly with a grin.

Leia sighed. "Well, I just thought I'd try."

Her attention was then caught by a small flashing light on the data display which was accompanied by a high-pitched beeping sound.

"What's that?" she asked Enzo, pointing to the display.

"Transmission," he replied distractedly as he keyed frantically at the data display, bringing up various boxes and tapping in complex algorithms as he spoke.

"Is it-"

"Yes."

Another transmission from the Imperials.

Leia watched anxiously as Enzo worked away at the data display. What would they send them this time? More of Luke, no doubt, Leia thought as the symbols on the screen changed rapidly in front of her. Her insides fluttered and she had to hold onto the back of Enzo's chair to keep herself steady. The first transmission had been bad enough. What horrifying footage was waiting for them now at the other side of the decryption? Leia felt like she didn't want to know.

"How long will it take to decrypt it?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to interrupt Enzo's concentration.

"About five minutes or so," Enzo replied as he keyed a final algorithm into the computer and leaned back in his chair. "I'm running the decryption now."

Leia frowned. "Only five minutes?" That was an awfully short time, especially when the previous one had taken almost an hour.

"Yeah. It's the same encryption code as the last transmission," Enzo explained. "The computer's already broken it once. After that, decryption is simple."

"I see," Leia murmured.

Enzo turned around to face her.

"I know it's not my place to ask," he started hesitantly, "but these were no chance interceptions, were they?"

"I'm afraid not," Leia sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Skyro asked, looking slightly puzzled. "You're suggesting that the Imperials are purposely leaking footage of Commander Skywalker and in turn also revealing their location? Why would they do that?"

Leia hesitated, unsure of whether or not she should tell them High Command's current opinion on the matter.

"You can trust us," Skyro added, looking to Enzo who nodded readily in return. "I mean, I just spent hours undergoing rigorous psychological evaluation and I passed. And Enzo here wouldn't be on this job unless he was the most trustworthy person out. You have our word, Your Highness. We won't tell anyone what you tell us."

Leia sighed. He did have a point. And in any case, what was the point of hiding the truth when it would all be revealed soon enough when they set out to rescue Luke?

"Yes, we believe that the Imperials are indeed purposely leaking the footage," Leia began. "The first encryption was incredibly lazy, which suggested to us that there was something more going on than just a chance interception. We have discussed the issue at length and now believe that the Imperials intend to lure us into a trap."

"And we're gonna walk right into the trap, aren't we?" Skyro sighed.

"Yes, but not blindly," Leia replied. "We know it's a trap and we know they'll be waiting for us. We can work with that. And anyway, we have no choice. The longer Luke stays aboard the Executor, the more likely it is that he won't survive."

Skyro sighed again. "They do make us fight for it, don't they?" he mused.

Leia nodded quietly and then flicked on her commlink, keying for High Command.

"This is Leia," she spoke into the transmitting device as soon as she was acknowledged. "We've received another transmission. It's being decrypted now and will be forwarded to the command room as soon as it is ready."

"Thank you, Leia," Mon Mothma replied. Her voice sounded calm but Leia knew that the Rebel leader was concerned underneath. She was just very good at hiding it. And that was what made her such a good leader.

Leia switched the commlink off and looked at the screen.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"Not much," Enzo responded. "It's almost done."

"Shouldn't you be returning to the command room, Your Highness?" Skyro asked, turning to look at her.

"Honestly, I'd prefer to stay here," she replied as she thought back to the confrontation with Commander Lears. She did not want to face that again anytime soon because she knew that if she ever saw that arrogant look on Lears' face again, she would waste no time in smacking it off. She was sick of people fearing things that they did not understand and instantly blaming them whenever something went wrong, especially when it concerned her friends.

Wisely, Skyro decided not to press her on that. Instead, he turned to the display as it flickered to black.

Then an image appeared and Leia's breath hitched as the footage began to play. Luke was no longer strapped to the wicked torture machine. Instead, he sat at a cold, metal table, looking thoroughly worn and exhausted. His wrists were bound but he was otherwise unrestrained. Seated across from him was a man dressed in an Imperial uniform and to the side stood the intimidating figure of Darth Vader.

The interrogator spoke first. "State your name and rank," he commanded Luke in a dull, monotonous voice.

Luke shifted in his seat but did not respond and Leia took the chance to examine him closer. Through the slight static of the recording she could tell that the torture had definitely taken its toll on the young Jedi. Luke's hair was jagged and scruffy, looking messier than Leia had ever seen it, and his grey Alliance fatigues were sweat stained and torn in places. He had been through hell.

"State your name and rank," the interrogator repeated, more harshly this time.

"Luke Skywalker," Luke croaked, his voice broken and hoarse from the torture. "Commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic."

"Will you cooperate willingly in this interrogation?"

"I will," Luke murmured, shifting in his chair again. It looked as if he was struggling to keep himself up. No doubt, he had been prevented from sleeping as a part of the torture, and whatever drugs they had used still seemed to be in his system, judging from the blank, not-entirely-there expression on his face.

"What is the current location of the Rebel fleet?" A test question, obviously. The Empire already knew their location, they were just testing Luke to see if he would tell the truth or not.

"Hoth," Luke answered hoarsely after a moment's contemplation. Leia felt her stomach jitter with nerves.

"And what is the location of the current Rebel base?"

Luke looked significantly confused as he struggled to make sense of the question through his drug-induced stupor. "There… isn't one," he replied slowly, his voice breaking midway and becoming extremely cracked and gravelly. "Just… Hoth."

"So, the Rebels plan to set up another base on Hoth?" the interrogator asked.

Luke shook his head. "Hoth… was just the rendezvous point."

"Then where are they headed next?"

"Somewhere far away where you'll never find them," Luke replied with more determination this time, a hint of his usual rebellious self shining through.

"You said you would cooperate."

"I don't know where they're going."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm telling the truth."

Leia felt considerably relaxed. As much as she hated to admit it, she had thought for a moment there that Luke would tell them everything. With all that he'd been through, she wouldn't blame him if he _did_ spill all their secrets. Mind you, he wouldn't do it willingly, but a severe lack of sleep always tended to twist the mind in ways that not even drugs could match. Luke probably couldn't even tell if he was awake or not right now.

But her comfort at Luke's defiance disappeared instantly as the interrogator turned to Darth Vader.

"My Lord?"

Vader didn't move but Luke tensed visibly.

"No," he whispered as he gazed at the Dark Lord of the Sith, fear evident in his voice. "No… No! No! No!"

Luke's shouts of protest grew steadily louder as he stared at Vader. Leia frowned. Vader wasn't even doing anything. But then Luke's hands shot to his head and it all made sense. Vader wasn't doing anything physically - he was doing it mentally. And Leia felt sick. Luke was screaming now, clawing at his head with his bound hands and shaking visibly in his chair.

"I'll tell!" he yelled, his voice high and broken through his screams. "I'll tell you everything!"

He continued writhing for a few more seconds, pleading for the mental attack to stop at the top of his lungs. And then he was suddenly still. His eyes were blank and his back was rigid.

"You'll tell us everything?" the interrogator asked.

Luke nodded slowly. "Everything."

"Then let's start with the topic of the Rebellion's new base. Where is it?"

"There isn't one," Luke replied simply.

The interrogator looked angry and was about to turn back to Vader, but then Luke continued.

"The Alliance currently has no permanent base of operations and they have not yet decided on the location of their next one. But I know the list of possible candidates."

The interrogator smiled at the progress. "And what are the possible candidates?"

And Luke listed them - all nineteen potential locations for future Rebel bases. Leia's stomach dropped. Whatever Vader had done, it had worked.

"Thank you," came the smug voice of the interrogator. "And now, tell me what you know of the Rebellion's plans."

Luke opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by the mechanical tones of Vader.

"That is enough for now, Lieutenant."

The interrogator looked as if he was about to protest, but Vader continued.

"The prisoner must learn that the Empire is not so easily forgiving and that he cannot escape punishment by giving us what we want. His compliance may be rewarded in the future, but for now he must face the punishment for his previous lack of cooperation."

The door to the room slid open and two stormtroopers entered.

"We will continue this conversation later. Take him away," Vader commanded.

And the screen flashed back to black as Luke screamed out in protest.

Leia cursed under her breath and heard Skyro do the same, only a little louder. This was not good. This was not good at all.

She had to get back to the command room - and quickly, before Commander Lears had the chance to sway the council his way. And with the footage that he now had, he would not waste any time in trying to convict Luke as a traitor.

"Get me the location," she ordered quickly as she bolted from the room.

Skyro nodded and hurriedly got to work.

.

.

.

"Ah, Princess Leia," came the gloating voice of Commander Lears as Leia stormed into the room. "Isn't this a surprise?"

"Don't you start!" she snapped, her finger pointed at Lears as she cut him off and made her way over to the main table. Lears looked affronted but shut his mouth nonetheless.

"Mon Mothma," she addressed as she turned to face the Rebel leader. "I respectfully request with urgence that we go after Commander Skywalker as soon as we have the location."

"I think that would be a wise," Mon Mothma replied, her voice calm and authoritative in the tense silence.

"I object," called Lears.

"Of course you do," Leia bit back at him, but the Commander wasn't put off by her anger this time.

"Why waste precious time and resources on a traitor like Skywalker?" Lears continued, ignoring Leia's vicious glare. "Let's face it. If we embark on a rescue mission, it will no doubt lead to battle and the loss of countless innocent lives. And there's no guarantee that we'll be successful anyway. Are you willing to take that risk, Your Highness? Are you willing to sacrifice hundreds of lives all for the man who has just betrayed the Alliance by giving valuable information to the Imperials?"

"Luke's not a traitor, Lears," Leia hissed. "Didn't you see him? He has been drugged and tortured. Mentally abused, even! He hardly gave them anything!"

"'Hardly gave them anything?'" Lears scoffed. "No, he hardly gave them anything at all… Just all the possible locations of our future bases!"

"Well, it was damn less than what you'd have given them had you been in Commander Skywalker's situation," she retorted, her anger now fully out of control. Oh, how she wanted to punch Lears right in his stuck-up, Corellian face.

"And, anyway, who knows what else he's told them," Lears continued, ignoring the slight that had just been fired at him. "We have no idea when that footage was recorded. It could have been half a day ago, for all we know! Skywalker could have told them everything by now. And you want to go rescue him!"

"He would do the same for us," Leia snapped back. "I won't leave him to die aboard the Executor at the hands of Vader!"

"It's what he deserves," hissed Lears.

That was it. He had gone too far.

Leia bolted at the Commander, fist pulled back and ready to punch. But she never even got close to Lears. Suddenly she was struggling in mid air, caught in the restraining arms of the other council members.

"Let me go!" she yelled, her eyes swimming with angry tears. How dare he say that about Luke! How _dare_ he! "I said let me go!"

"Leia. Commander Lears." Mon Mothma's voice was cold as she spoke their names, clearly conveying her disapproval.

Leia struggled one last time and then gave up, relaxing into the arms of the council members. She shot a filthy glare at Lears, who was also being restrained, and then turned to face Mon Mothma. But she had no intention of apologising for her actions.

"In the interest of resolving this conflict quickly," Mon Mothma announced to the group, her voice slightly warmer than before but still holding a clear warning in its tones, "I call for a vote. All those in favour of rescuing Commander Skywalker, please raise your hand."

Leia raised her hand without question, as did a number of the other delegates. Some of the council members were more reluctant, however, but when they looked from Leia to Lears, they too, raised their hands. In the end, only Lears and two other council members were left without their hands in the air.

"Then it is decided," Mon Mothma stated, lowering her own hand.

Leia couldn't help the victorious smirk that spread across her face as her faith in the command council was restored.

Mon Mothma turned to Lears, her gaze hard. "Lears, considered yourself dismissed until further notice," she said simply.

Lears broke away from the restraining arms and straightened his uniform. "Very well," he replied, his anger now having faded into something that resembled resignation. "I tried my best and did what I thought to be right. So, don't blame me when the Alliance falls because of Skywalker."

He shot Leia a look and then left the room.

Mon Mothma now turned to Leia, and Leia felt considerably nervous. They had ignored her outburst in the previous meeting, but this one had been a lot worse.

"Do you need to be dismissed as well, Leia?" Mon Mothma asked quietly. "Or will you be able to keep your emotions under check more successfully from now on?"

"I will," Leia replied, chin raised. "Although I will not apologise for my actions here today."

Mon Mothma regarded her for a moment, and Leia wondered if those had been the right words to say. But then the Rebel leader nodded slowly and said, "Very well. But if your personal attachment to Commander Skywalker begins to cloud your judgement, then I will ask you to sit this out until it is resolved."

"I understand," Leia responded, feeling considerably relieved but also a little nervous. She would have to keep her emotions under very tight control from now on and with all that was going on, she wasn't sure if she could do that. But with Lears and his insulting opinions now out of the way, maybe she could finally start to get her old self-control back. And if it meant getting Luke back, then she would put all of her effort into it.

Mon Mothma gave her a small smile and she returned it. Then her commlink buzzed and she grabbed for it quickly.

"Leia," she acknowledged into the receiver.

"It's Skyro, Your Highness," came the voice of the young captain. "We have the coordinates. They're being sent to High Command now."

"Thank you, Skyro," she replied, flicking the commlink off as she moved over to the holoprojector. She tapped the controls and soon enough a map of the galaxy appeared.

The rest of the command council moved over to her and gathered around the projector. Two dots appeared in between the mix of star systems and sectors, one green and one red.

"We are here," said Leia as she pointed to the green dot in the middle of the Hoth system. "And the trace has placed the Imperial fleet here in the Endor system." She pointed to the red dot and then tapped the controls again, enlarging the view of the Endor system.

"The system is largely uninhabited," Leia explained as she read over the data that Skyro had sent her along with the coordinates. "And thanks to the expertise of our techs, we have been able to narrow the Imperial fleet's location down even further. From what we can tell, they appear to be in orbit around the gas giant, Endor."

Leia looked to the council. "I think it is time for me to hand over to Admiral Ackbar," she said, stepping aside.

Ackbar thanked her and stepped forward. Leia watched as he began explaining the best rescue scenario and started giving orders to the various Commanders and Captains in the room.

She smiled. They were going to get Luke back.

.

.

.

Luke rolled his head to face the door as it slid open with a _whoosh_ and he was surprised to see the person who was entering. He had expected it to be the stormtroopers again, ready to drag him off to another torture session. But, no. It was Vader.

Luke gazed up at his father wearily, still heavily drugged and sluggish-feeling.

He raised his eyebrows. "What do you want?" he murmured.

"Come with me," Vader rumbled, his mechanical tones not giving away even a hint of his intentions.

Luke gave a shaky laugh. "I don't think that's possible," he mumbled back wryly. He hadn't moved for hours and he had no intention of doing so any time soon. He was still shaking from the torture, albeit less noticeably now, and he still felt incredibly weak.

"Stand and come with me," Vader repeated.

Luke groaned and groggily lifted his hand to his face, rubbing his tired eyes and brushing some of his messy hair out of his face. He blinked a couple of times and stared up at the ceiling. He had no intention of going anywhere.

"I said stand and come with me," Vader hissed, his voice sinking dangerously low.

Luke ignored him. But he soon realised that that was not the best tactic.

A gradual chill began to spread over the room and Luke shivered, his heart rate picking up as he realised what it was. Vader was trying the mental Dark Side attack again. Luke closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Throughout the hours that he had spent isolated in his cell, he had not felt even a tingle from the Force - not from the Light and not from the Dark. And that was how he wanted it. Vader had revealed the darkness within him and Luke was determined not to let it out, even if that meant never connecting with the Force again. But now Vader was forcing the Dark Side on him once more, sending its dark, welcoming, promising tendrils towards his body and his mind. He felt its touch on his skin, felt it begin to draw the pain away.

But that was enough. He would not let it ensnare him once again.

"I'll come," he whispered quickly. "Stop and I'll come."

Vader did not respond, but Luke felt the Dark Side retreat, taking the coldness with it.

Luke took a deep breath and rolled onto his stomach. But his reflexes were slow and his face collided with the cold, grey ground, sending a sharp pain through his skull. Luke grunted in pain but continued moving. He had momentum now. He could get somewhere. Shifting his weight, he brought his knees closer to his body and pushed himself up with his arms. He staggered as he shifted himself upright, his head spinning dangerously as he stood for the first time in hours. His vision went white and he swayed, falling onto the wall as he tried to regain his sight. He stayed there for a few moments, leaning against the grey wall and breathing heavily. Then his vision cleared and he looked at Vader.

"Where are we going?" he panted. It had taken all of his effort just to reach a standing position and he didn't know how long he could keep it up. They had better not be going far.

"Follow me," Vader rumbled. And he turned and left the cells, his black cloak billowing out behind him.

Luke blinked. "Wha… Wait!" he called as he pushed himself away from the wall. He staggered drunkenly to the door and clung to it as he looked out into the cellblock passageway. Vader was nearing the end of it already.

Luke gritted his teeth and pushed himself forward, determined not to let Vader out of his sight, lest he earn his father's wrath.

.

.

.

Ignoring the commotion around her, Leia walked up to Home One's main viewport and gazed out into the depths of space. The millions of stars in the black velvet sea twinkled back at her hopefully. She took a deep breath. Luke was out there somewhere and so was Han. Her two best friends, lost amongst the stars. But they had found one of them. They had found Luke and they would rescue him. And then together they would rescue Han.

"Princess Leia," came the voice of Admiral Ackbar from behind her. Leia turned to face him. "The fleet is ready."

She nodded and turned back to face the viewport. She heard the engines kick in and then the stars transformed into streaks of light.

Hold on, Luke, she thought. We're coming.

.

.

.

Luke stumbled along behind Vader as they made their way through the grey corridors of the Executor. He had managed to catch up to his father at the turbolifts and if he hadn't been so focused on keeping himself breathing, that ride in the lift might have been extremely uncomfortable, what with the fact that his father had almost tortured him to death and all. But the trip up to the higher levels had passed quickly. Too quickly, actually. Luke's mind was still playing tricks on him and every now and then he noticed blank spots appearing where he knew memories should be. He couldn't even remember how he had gotten to his feet back in the cell. Oh, how he needed to sleep.

A large set of grey doors appeared ahead of them and Luke hoped that this was their final destination. His legs were trembling viciously now and he was moving purely from momentum. If he stopped, he'd probably fall over and face plant into the shiny, black tile.

The doors slid open and Luke teetered down the runway, struggling not to fall into the pits below where various Imperial officers were working away at data displays. Well, supposedly working. Most of them were too intrigued by the newcomer to actually pay attention to what they were doing, although they quickly returned to their work as Vader passed them by.

Vader came to a halt in front of the massive viewport that looked out into space and Luke collapsed to the ground at his father's feet, heaving heavily. As he gazed up into the black void in front of him, he finally realised where he was: the bridge.

Luke continued to catch his breath as someone approached them. From his position on the floor, all he could see was the man's shiny, polished boots, but he had no doubt that it was Admiral Piett.

"The fleet is in position, My Lord," the Admiral informed Vader.

"Good," Vader rumbled. "Hold here."

"Yes, My Lord." Piett nodded and strode away from them to return to his duties.

Luke pushed himself up into a sitting position. He supposed he didn't look very dignified sitting there at Vader's feet, but he really couldn't do any better. He was just so exhausted. And his ragged appearance wouldn't do him any credit anyway, so why waste his limited energy in an attempt to look like something he wasn't? He shifted slightly as Vader looked at him.

"Soon your friends will arrive," Vader rumbled, turning his gaze to the stars. "And you will witness the end of the Rebellion."

"No," Luke whispered hoarsely between breaths. "They won't come… They won't risk everything just for me."

"Oh, but they will, Luke," Vader replied. "They are on their way now; my spies aboard Home One have confirmed it. Your pitiful Alliance has walked straight into our trap."

Luke shot a glare at Vader, although it probably looked more like a dazed stare than anything. "You won't win this, Vader," he growled.

But his father ignored him. "The entire Imperial fleet is armed and ready to fire upon the Rebel ships when they arrive. They will be destroyed, Luke. Every last one of them."

"No." Luke shook his head, but he was beginning to become worried. The entire Imperial fleet…

"Unless…" Vader trailed off as he looked out into the black void of space.

"Unless what?" Luke asked quietly, although he already knew the answer.

"Unless you choose to join me, Luke," Vader replied, turning to face him. "If you pledge yourself to my teachings, if you submit yourself to the ways of the Dark Side, then I will call off the attack and your friends will be spared."

Luke looked up at Vader. "Never," he spat. "I have faith in the Alliance. They will not be destroyed."

"As you wish," replied Vader coolly as he crossed his arms and raised his chin.

Luke frowned. He had thought he would have gotten more of an argument than that. But then something caught his eye and he turned to look out the viewport.

And what he saw made him instantly regret his decision. There, only now coming into view, was a large, grey orb, floating off to the side of the rest of the fleet. He had seen the design before, but this one was much larger.

Luke gulped. Star Destroyers were one thing, but the Death Star... The Rebellion might have stood a chance against the fleet… but against the fleet _and_ the Empire's deadliest superweapon? Luke's stomach dropped as he stared in horror at the battle station.

Then he turned to face Vader and opened his mouth to speak.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am so sorry that this has taken me so long to update. I've been busy & I just haven't had the time. But here's chapter 5 (finally) & I hope you like it. I felt really bad about leaving you guys with that last cliffhanger for so long so this one has a normal end. Kind of... Well, it's definitely less cliffhangery than the previous chapters :) Sorry if this chapter is a little rough around the edges. It took me awhile to get back into writing this story after leaving it so long.**

**Once again, thank you so much for the lovely reviews!**

* * *

><p>"I…" Luke faltered.<p>

He looked back out to the stars which were now partially obscured by the intimidating visage of the Death Star reborn. Vader shifted slightly beside him as Luke crawled closer to the viewport.

"I…" he tried again.

"Yes?" rumbled Vader darkly.

Luke curled his hands into fists and leaned into them on the cold tile, pressing as much of his weight down into his knuckles. He gritted his teeth at the pain but held the position, and as he did so, he felt the fogginess in his mind begin to recede. The burning sensation that ripped through his muscles gave way to adrenaline and in turn to the detoxification of his body. If the Force came to him in that moment, he didn't acknowledge its presence.

With his mind refreshed and his body now free from the drugs, Luke gazed out at the Death Star with a new perspective. Its enormous, grey figure floated innocently amongst the stars but this time Luke was not deceived. The armoured space station was considerably larger than the first Death Star - larger, but not complete.

Nowhere near complete, actually, Luke mused as his eyes skimmed over the superweapon, which had now rotated enough to reveal that at least half of the station was, as of yet, incomplete. And that obviously meant that it wasn't operational.

Luke sighed with relief. It was all just a ploy - just a scare tactic! And it was clever - Luke had to give them that. If the Alliance arrived to find the Imperial fleet waiting for them _and_ a carefully positioned Death Star, then they would be significantly put off their game. They would still probably go for it and try to rescue him, but with two threats instead of one, they would be forced to split their forces. And that would make them vulnerable.

But the Alliance knew a lost cause when they saw one and they would no doubt call a retreat as soon as things began to get out of control. Luke just had to have faith that they wouldn't wait too long to withdraw from the fight. He had to have faith in the Rebel leaders - in Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar, the ones who would be leading the attack. And he had to have faith in Leia.

Leia…

Luke looked out to the stars. Somewhere out there, Leia was on her way. But she would never reach him. Luke knew her rescue attempt would be futile; the Alliance would not be destroyed, but they would not win either. His fate was sealed.

He turned to face his father. Vader was staring down at him with an air of impatient expectancy and Luke was almost inclined not to indulge him.

But, instead, he took a deep breath and looked at the floor, deliberately avoiding his father's dark stare.

"I …" he whispered sadly with an air of defeat.

He allowed two cycles of Vader's mechanical breathing to pass before he lifted his head and looked up into the dark, shiny mask.

"... will never join you!" he said loudly, confidently, so that everyone could hear.

There was complete silence on the bridge, broken only by the sharp cyclical hiss of Vader's respirator every couple of seconds. Luke didn't even need the Force to feel the tension in the room. All eyes were trained on Vader, watching and waiting in avid anticipation for his response to the unruly prisoner. Luke noticed the guards at the door shift uneasily, most likely preparing themselves to drag his dead body out of the room after he came to the short, choking end that Vader was no doubt about to enact.

But that end never came. And Luke was not surprised. Even though Vader had a reputation for killing anyone who got on his nerves, he knew that his father would not be able to do it. He would not kill his son. Not now, after all he'd been through to find him and capture him.

He also knew that he would pay for his defiance eventually and that Vader would continue to come up with more ways to force him into submission. And maybe one day he might just be successful. But that day would not be today.

Luke smirked at his father but Vader didn't even respond. Instead, he turned to face Admiral Piett, who was standing stock still at the end of the runway. But, as soon as the Sith Lord's gaze fell upon him, Piett came to his senses and turned to his crewers, giving them a look that said 'get back to work if you want to live.' Everyone immediately turned back to their stations and Piett approached Vader.

"The Rebels should be here within five minutes, My Lord," informed Piett, shooting a quick glance down at Luke. "What are your orders?"

"You will wait until I give the command to attack, Admiral," Vader instructed. "The Alliance will be destroyed but I have something planned for them first. Is the transmission ready to be sent?"

"At your request, My Lord," Piett confirmed. "Although you will forgive me if I query your decision not to encode it?"

"We do not have time for the Rebels to decrypt it, Admiral," Vader rumbled with a hint of impatience echoing through his mechanical tones. "It is to reach them as soon as they arrive."

"Of course, My Lord. It will be done," replied Piett with a nod.

Vader dismissed him without a word as he turned back to face Luke, who had been listening to the conversation quietly. His father then turned to look out the viewport once more.

Luke frowned as the Admiral turned away. What transmission were they talking about and why was it so important that it reached the Alliance as soon as they turned up? And, more importantly, why were they even sending the Alliance a transmission in the first place? It made no sense. If they truly wanted the Alliance destroyed, then blowing them to pieces the instant they arrived would be the logical option, not sending them a welcome message.

But Luke didn't have enough time to make sense of the mysterious transmission because his attention was promptly caught by a small movement from outside the viewport. He quickly turned his head to look out at the stars and felt his stomach drop.

With a flicker of pseudomotion the Alliance fleet appeared.

Luke swallowed nervously and wiped his palms on his trousers. Now he would find out if his defiance had been the right decision.

.

.

.

Leia stepped onto the bridge of Home One just in time to see the blue swirls of hyperspace transform into streaks of light. The engines purred to a halt and the planet Endor appeared in front of them - along with the _entire Imperial fleet_. But that was not what caught Leia's attention. They had been expecting the fleet to be there but that was it; they had most definitely not been expecting to see another Death Star.

Leia felt her blood freeze at the sight of the Empire's new superweapon. It was over twice the size of the previous model and its superlaser was angled directly at them. Positioned to the side of the fleet, its visage was menacing and intimidating, yet something seemed off and Leia stepped closer to the main viewport to get a better look.

Upon closer inspection, the Death Star appeared to be relatively incomplete and Leia felt considerably relieved at the realisation. The side that was facing them had seemed finished at first glance, but now that Leia could see the darker strip through the middle and the rough, jagged edges on the side it was obvious that the superweapon was not yet finished. Leia grinned. The Empire had tried to fool them but they were not that gullible. It would take significantly more than a simple maneuvering trick to scare the Alliance away.

"The Death Star's just a ruse," Leia informed the command crew as she turned around to face Admiral Ackbar. "It's not complete yet."

"Can we get a reading on the battle station?" Ackbar asked one of the techs after acknowledging Leia's input. The momentary shock that had come over the command bridge at the sight of the Death Star had disappeared and now everyone was working frantically away at their tasks, the noise level rising dramatically.

The tech shook his head. "They're jamming us, sir," he responded, barely audible over the noise of the busy command crew.

But before Ackbar could respond, another tech called out, "Incoming transmission!"

"Decrypt it," ordered Mon Mothma, striding over to the tech's side.

"All wings move out and -," Ackbar began into his commlink, but he was suddenly cut off by an ear-piercing scream that echoed throughout the bridge,

A number of the crewmembers started in shock, whilst others quickly covered their ears as they looked around for the source of the noise, but Leia froze instantly. Every muscle in her body tensed and her fingers curled as she recognised the scream. Another pained yell rang out as this time an image appeared on every viewscreen in the room. And now everyone froze, their attention caught in horror by the footage they were seeing.

Leia didn't even look. Grabbing her commlink roughly from her pocket and keying in a transmission code, she gave the order that she technically had no right to give. "All wings move out and engage. I repeat, move out and engage the Empire."

.

.

.

"The Alliance is moving into attack formation, Lord Vader," Admiral Piett informed as he stepped up to the viewport.

"Was the transmission received?" Vader rumbled without turning to face the Admiral.

"Yes, My Lord," Piett responded with a nod.

"Good," Vader replied darkly and Luke shivered as he wondered what the transmission contained. Whatever it was, it had not stopped the Alliance from attacking. Instead, Luke noticed, it had sent them into what he assumed was some sort of panicked frenzy, taking up formation much earlier than he had ever seen them do. So, this was Vader's plan: confuse the enemy and then take them down.

"Engage," Vader commanded.

Piett relayed the command to the crewers and Luke shifted nervously onto his haunches as he watched the Rebel ships come swirling into view, lasers firing.

.

.

.

Leia glared darkly out at the Imperial fleet as she watched the Alliance snub fighters scream past the viewport and towards the enemy. Glittering lights in the distance indicated that the Imperials were now launching their own fighters. Good, she thought. Time to get down to business.

The Empire would pay for what they did to Luke - for what they were still doing to him. Leia swore to herself that she would not stop until she personally saw to Vader's demise and to the demise of the entire Empire. The screams that were still echoing throughout the cabin only sought to strengthen her resolve.

She turned to Admiral Ackbar who, like everyone else, was still staring in fixated horror at the viewscreens.

"Admiral," she said loudly to draw his attention.

The Mon Calamari swiveled his large head around to face her and his expression was hard. The previous transmissions that they had received had been taxing enough, but this one… This one was on a whole new level and it showed clearly in the Admiral's grim determination.

The Empire had gone too far this time.

"The squadrons are moving out and they await your orders," she informed him.

Ackbar nodded and began giving out commands to both the staff on board the bridge and to the squadrons making the attack on the Imperial fleet. With everything now back on track, the stunned silence on the bridge was swiftly replaced with an ordered chaos. The violent footage was still playing but everyone was doing their best to ignore it, instead turning their focus onto the tasks at hand.

Leia looked out the viewport once more and let her thoughts stray to Luke for a few seconds. He was so close but yet so far. Leia mentally crossed her fingers, hoping that this would all end well. Then she turned and strode over to Mon Mothma, who was hovering behind the tech who had announced the transmission.

"Shut it off," she ordered as she approached his desk, looking at anything but the viewscreens showing the sickening footage of Luke's continued torture.

"I can't," the tech replied, tapping furiously at the screen. "They've hacked our system. I can't stop it."

Leia frowned. "That's not possible," she said, looking to Mon Mothma with concern. "Is it?"

Mon Mothma shook her head softly, her brow creased. "Not by my understanding. From the distance they are at, it is impossible to infiltrate our system. They would need someone on board Home One to…" she trailed off as she looked to Leia with a flash of realisation in her eyes.

Leia understood immediately.

The security leak.

Leia grabbed for her commlink once again and keyed in her transmission code.

"Skyro," she spoke into the device quickly. "Skyro, come in."

The commlink crackled for a moment, then came Skyro's voice, warped a little by the static. "This isn't the best time, Your Highness. I'm a little busy right now."

"I need you to run a trace for me," Leia replied, brushing some strands of hair out of her eyes as she glanced towards the viewport and the battle transpiring outside.

"Not possible, Your Highness. Ah -" Skyro's voice broke off and the commlink crackled for a second. Then he continued, "Sorry."

"It's important."

"I'm sure it is, but I'm busy. Get Enzo to do it." Skyro's voice was hard to read through the crackling of the commlink but Leia could tell that his attention was elsewhere at the moment.

Leia flipped a switch on her commlink, setting the security to a top-level encryption code, before speaking again. "Skyro, listen to me. This is a confidential request. I trust only you for this job. I need you to run a trace on a transmission and find the person who has hacked our system."

"I'm deeply flattered that you think so highly of me, Princess," Skyro replied, still with an edge of distraction. "But I don't have the technical capability to do that right now." He paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing. "I'm not exactly aboard Home One right now."

Leia frowned. "What? Where are you?" The last she'd known, Skyro and the other scout group members had been restricted to Home One until further notice so that they could continue to be monitored.

The commlink hissed with static and Leia thought she heard a muffled curse.

"Skyro?" she asked, brow still creased. "Where are you?"

"Now's not the time," Skyro replied hastily. "We have bigger issues. The Death Star is operational."

"_What_?" Leia asked incredulously, eyebrows raised. "How do you know?"

"I bypassed the jamming a couple of minutes ago and have been running scans on the battle station ever since," Skyro answered rapidly. "I almost got caught by the tractor beam in the process but hey, where's the fun without a little risk?"

Leia gaped as she realised where Skyro was.

"You're not -?"

"Focus, Princess," Skyro replied and Leia closed her mouth instantly. "You need to get your shields up to maximum and take evasive action; they're charging the superlaser now. It won't be long before they make a strike - and Home One is a better target than anything."

Home One was the most well-equipped ship in the fleet but it did not stand a chance against a superlaser of such incredible magnitude and Leia knew this. She didn't even respond to Skyro as she bolted over to Admiral Ackbar, knowing full well that they were likely to be the first victim of the Death Star reborn if they didn't take action right this very instant.

"The Death Star is operational," Leia breathed out in a hurry. "Admiral, you have to trust me on this. We need to take evasive action immediately."

Ackbar looked like he was about to protest - after all, every piece of data they had received so far indicated that the superweapon was offline - but he stopped short as he saw the honesty in her concerned expression.

He then turned to his crew. "Shields up to maximum and take evasive action! Get us out of range of the Death Star!"

Leia stumbled on her feet as Home One careened downwards and to the side, the artificial gravity system taking a moment to catch up to the sudden change in position. Once she regained her footing she turned to face Mon Mothma, who had just called for her in a voice stricken with pained urgency.

"What is it?" Leia asked with concern as she approached the Rebel leader.

Mon Mothma's eyes were troubled as she glanced from the viewscreens to Leia. "The footage is live," she whispered quietly.

Leia felt her stomach drop and her blood chill. "Live?" she repeated hoarsely, not wanting to think about the implications of that statement.

Mon Mothma nodded, giving her a sympathetic look. "There could be a delay of a few seconds up to a few minutes, but, ultimately what we are seeing here is happening right now."

Leia's resolve broke and she looked up at the nearest viewscreen, feeling incredibly sick. The previous torture session had been horrifying and Luke's screams had since been engraved in her mind, but this… This was a million times worse. The Empire was making their point now: Luke didn't have long to live unless the Alliance surrendered. Leia watched in agony as Luke writhed in pain. The electric shocks were running through him almost constantly now and he never ceased screaming except to take short, ragged, heaving breaths. Leia clenched her fists. Surrender was not an option, but neither was letting Luke die. Her part in the rescue was not meant to happen until much later in the operation, but Luke was running out of time and she didn't have a choice.

She turned to Mon Mothma. "I have to leave," she announced. "Now."

Leia turned to the door but the Rebel leader grabbed her arm roughly, preventing her from going anywhere.

"I can't let you do that," Mon Mothma said in a voice that spoke volumes of authority.

Leia whipped her head around to face the older woman and she couldn't help the fire in her voice as she replied, "I understand that it is not ideal for me to embark on my mission now, Mon Mothma, but there is no other option. Luke will die if I don't go to him." She pulled her arm free of Mothma's grip and took a step back. "Is my crew ready?"

"It's too dangerous, Leia," Mon Mothma pleaded, for once letting go of her controlled exterior and letting her emotions show through. "I can't lose you like I lost your father."

"Is my crew ready?" Leia repeated harshly through gritted teeth. She didn't have time for sentimentality; the clock was ticking and Luke had an appointment with death.

Mon Mothma sighed and Leia could see the resignation in her tired eyes. "Yes," she replied quietly, almost as if she didn't want Leia to hear her words.

"Good." Leia turned to leave but a sudden burst of bright light flooded the bridge and Home One careened again, sending her stumbling into a wall.

Leia picked herself up and turned in horror to face the viewport. The Death Star was up and running and was now firing repeatedly at the Alliance snub fighters as well as at the larger ships that were still within range of the superlaser. Thanks to Skyro's early warning, Home One had made it out of range - but only just in time. The first blast from the superweapon had missed them narrowly and the crew had taken immediate evasive action in case any more shots came their way. But they were safely out of the danger now and the Imperials had instead turned their firepower on the smaller Rebel ships that were leading the attack on the fleet. It was risky business; snub fighters moved fast and there was no guaranteeing that the superlaser blast would hit an Alliance ship instead of an Imperial one. But the Empire seemed perfectly fine with sacrificing its own fighters in an attempt to bring down the Rebellion once and for all. This was war, after all, and war required sacrifices to breed victory.

Leia stepped towards the viewport slowly, her hands shaking with the shock from coming so close to death. Luke's screams still echoed throughout the cabin but everything seemed silent to her as she gazed out at the battle. Explosions littered the sky as both Alliance and Imperial fighters alike erupted into brilliant bursts of flame as they fell prey to the enemy's fire. She heard the cries of the pilots echoing throughout the bridge as their ships were hit and they were sucked into the vacuum of space, never to breathe or speak or hear again. The destruction and the desolation and the death was overwhelming.

And all this was happening for one man…

For Luke.

.

.

.

Luke froze in horror as a burst of brilliant green light flashed across the viewport towards the Alliance's largest ship, Home One.

_Leia!_ his mind screamed, but the command ship rolled swiftly and the deadly laser missed by metres. Luke let out a short sigh of relief, but it was cut short as he realised where the blast had come from.

The Death Star.

It was operational.

Luke watched in terror as the superweapon changed its target and proceeded to fire on the various snub fighters frolicking around in the sky. Bursts of light filled the viewport as the Death Star made successful hits time and time again, taking out both Alliance and Imperial starfighters in rapid bursts of green firepower.

Luke could feel his father's delight as an Alliance X-Wing was obliterated just in front of them and he could also feel the pilot's pain as he came to a violent, flaming end. Luke recoiled instantly, shying away from the viewport as if that would break the sudden unwanted connection with the Force. He fell back against the cold, polished floor gasping for air as he attempted to close his mind off from the overwhelming pain that was emanating from the devastating space battle. It took a few moments, but soon enough he was alone again, disconnected from the living energy field. But that didn't mean he was blind - far from it, actually and the reality hit him like a badly plotted hyperspace jump through an asteroid field.

All of this was happening because of him.

It was all his fault.

And now he had to fix what he had started.

.

.

.

"We have to go," she whispered quietly to herself. "We have to leave."

Leia turned around to face Mon Mothma with a look of absolute despair as she came to accept the truth of the situation. They were severely outnumbered and they had already lost countless ships to the wrath of the Empire; they couldn't stand to lose any more.

Mon Mothma's face was grim but Leia could tell that the Rebel leader was also struggling with the hopelessness of their cause. They were so close to achieving their objective - they were so close to saving Luke, but then again they were still so far away. And they had a responsibility - a duty to the Alliance and its people that they needed to uphold.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Leia gave a short nod to Mon Mothma, conveying her agreement to whatever course of action the Rebel leader thought best, even though it pained her to do so. Mothma acknowledged her silently and moved over to Admiral Ackbar, conversing quietly with the military commander. Leia watched without a word as Ackbar nodded and started relaying the order to retreat. Red flashing lights filled the bridge and an automated voice filled the air with cries of "Retreat! Retreat!"

Leia blinked back tears as she turned again to face the viewport. From her position on the bridge she could clearly see the intimidating silhouette of the Executor as it was lit up repeatedly by nearby explosions. That was where Luke was. That was where he was being tortured and abused.

That was where he was going to die.

_No_, Leia thought sharply as she moved over to an empty tech desk and sank into the seat, dropping her head into her hands. No. Luke couldn't die. It wasn't possible. He was always so happy - so full of life and joy - that Leia couldn't even imagine trying to put the words 'Luke' and 'dead' together in a sentence. Perhaps there was a chance that Vader wouldn't kill him?

But Leia knew her hopes were futile. The Alliance wasn't going to surrender and they were most definitely not going to hang around long enough to be destroyed. And that meant that Luke's life was forfeit. And Leia felt her spirits drop even further as she realised that it was always going to be. Luke's death had been secured the moment he had handed himself over to the Empire on that fateful evening only a couple of days ago. Luke had known he was going to his death but he went anyway. And he had done it for her.

Oh, how she missed him already.

_You promised you would return, Luke_, she thought miserably as she rubbed away the tears that had started to fall. _You promised_.

.

.

.

Luke looked to Vader. His father's shining mask flickered in the light of exploding starfighters as he gazed callously out at the battle, ignoring his son completely as he revelled in his victory. Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that he was about to do the right thing.

Four words. That was it. Four words and he could end this all - end the suffering and the destruction. But he couldn't bring himself to say them. He had fought so hard, endured so much. And for what?

Luke looked hopelessly out at the stars. Alliance fighters were being obliterated every second, yet the Rebels had not made any move to retreat. He had hoped that they would be the ones to end this, not him. But perhaps it was his job to do, his task alone. After all, his destiny was to rid the galaxy of the Empire and how could that be possible if the Alliance was destroyed? The Rebellion was the shining hope for the galaxy, not him. He was just a tool, a leverage device to get them where they needed to go. And if his destiny required him to sacrifice himself to Vader, then he would gladly do it in the name of the Alliance - in the name of Leia.

Luke took another deep breath and turned to face his father. He straightened his posture as much as his aching muscles would allow and found within himself the courage that he needed to end this.

Luke opened his mouth and Vader turned to look at him. "I -"

But he was cut off abruptly by the sound of Admiral Piett's voice. Luke turned sharply with a glare as the man approached Vader in a hurry. "Lord Vader, the Rebels are retreating!"

Luke's anger at the interruption dissipated in an instant as the Admiral's words reached his ears. The Alliance was retreating! He quickly turned to look out at the battle, and, sure enough, tiny flickers of pseudomotion littered the sky as the Alliance fleet started making the jump to hyperspace, ship by ship.

"Do you want us to track them, My Lord?" Piett asked.

"No," Vader growled and Luke felt chills skitter down his spine as he sensed Vader's anger. It was worse than he had ever felt it before and Luke felt considerably scared for his own safety as his father turned menacingly to face him. He continued glaring down at Luke as he said, "Let them go, but destroy as many of them as you can before they make the jump to hyperspace."

"Yes, My Lord," Piett responded. "It will be done."

Then the Admiral left, leaving Luke alone to suffer Vader's fury.

.

.

.

Leia sniffed and brushed her hair out of her face as she looked towards the viewport. The various snub fighters that were still capable of flight were now making the jump to hyperspace and to safety. The larger ships had already left, but Home One was still making its preparations. That wasn't a cause for concern though; the Rebel command ship was well out of range of the Empire's weapon targeting systems by now.

Leia watched as an X-Wing disappeared in front of them, but she didn't really see it go; her mind felt numb, like she was floating in a drug-induced stupor, the sounds of the bridge and Luke's continued screams coming to her as if through a very thick fog. She gazed absently out at the stars, her resignation and hopelessness leading her into a dull sort of apathy. But her trance was soon broken by a high-pitched beeping sound.

Leia blinked and reached into her pocket, pulling out her flashing commlink. She thumbed it on and answered, "Leia."

"Your Highness!" came Skyro's voice, considerably clearer this time. "Why are we retreating? Have we rescued Commander Skywalker?"

Leia felt fresh tears flood her vision as she took a deep breath. "No," she whispered shakily.

There was a considerable pause from Skyro's end, then he responded. "I'll get him."

"What?" Leia asked, confused for a moment as she brushed the tears away again. Then she realised what he was saying. "Skyro, no!"

"It's my fault he was captured in the first place, Princess," Skyro replied with grim determination. "I have to at least try!"

"Skyro, no! Get back here!" Leia cried as she pressed herself against the viewport, trying desperately to find Skyro's ship. "That's an order!"

As she frantically searched the sky for an Alliance ship headed in the wrong direction she heard one of the command crewers shout something to Ackbar.

"Admiral, Red Four has deviated from his course and is headed towards the Executor."

And then she spotted him. A small X-Wing shimmering in the starlight and headed directly for Vader's flagship.

"If he will not change his course then leave him," was Ackbar's response.

"_What_?" Leia shouted incredulously as she turned to face the military commander. "No! You are not leaving him, Admiral. No one else needs to die today."

She didn't wait for Ackbar's response as she turned back to her commlink. "Skyro, change your course immediately. That's an order. I repeat: that's an order!"

"You're not my commander, Princess," Skyro replied with a rebellious air that reminded her so much of Han and Luke. "And even if you were -"

A sharp, high-pitched crackling sound hissed from her commlink and then it went silent. Leia felt her stomach drop as she checked the battery level of her commlink. Fully charged. It wasn't her end that had caused the disconnection. Something had happened to Skyro.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously, turning to face the command crew.

"He's been hit," came the reply.

Leia's eyebrows raised in shock and disbelief as she desperately called into her commlink, "Skyro! Skyro, come in!"

The silence continued and Leia felt as if she was falling into a deep, black void of loss and hopelessness. First Luke and now Skyro…

But suddenly the commlink flashed and the crackling returned. Then came Skyro's voice, breathy and warped by the static, but there nonetheless. "I'm okay," he said. "The hit wasn't bad, but my hyperdrive's been knocked out. I can't make the jump to lightspeed. You go without me."

"No, Skyro, we won't leave you," Leia replied firmly as she gave Ackbar a hard look. The Admiral shifted uncomfortably but gave her a short nod. "Turn your ship around and head for Home One as fast as you can. We'll leave as soon as you're aboard."

"Copy that," Skyro replied, although his voice sounded pained, no doubt from having to leave Luke in the hands of Vader.

Leia watched as the tiny figure of the X-Wing turned around and gradually became larger as it approached the Rebel command ship. Thankfully, no TIE fighters chose to come after him. As the X-Wing neared the viewport, Leia could see that it was badly battered and that the astromech unit inside it was smoking considerably. One more hit and Skyro wouldn't have made it out alive. Leia held her breath as Skyro's ship disappeared from her view and neared the hangar bay. She turned around to face the command crew, waiting for the confirmation that he had landed safely.

Soon enough, a young tech looked up and gave her a nod. Leia turned to Ackbar. "Let's go," she said, putting as much confidence and determination into her words as she could muster. She didn't want to leave but she had to. She had a sworn duty to the Alliance and its people that she had to uphold. Their safety came first. It was what Luke would want her to do.

Ackbar nodded and was about to give the order to jump, but a soft voice suddenly caught the attention of everyone on the bridge.

"Leia…"

The voice was sad and Leia felt her blood freeze over as she slowly turned to face Mon Mothma. The Rebel leader looked significantly worn and tired, but that was not what Leia noticed - it was the softly creased eyebrows and glittering eyes that rooted Leia to the spot. Her pulse was pounding in her ears and she swallowed drily as Mon Mothma opened her mouth to speak again.

"Listen."

Leia paused and listened, but there was complete silence aboard the bridge. She shook her head. "I don't hear anyth-"

And then she realised.

Complete silence. _Complete and utter silence_.

Her jaw dropped slightly and she exhaled sharply as she leaned into the table next to her, feeling as if the wind had just been knocked out of her. Her hands started to shake and she gasped for air as her mind spun dizzyingly.

"Make the jump," she whispered hoarsely, although her voice was too cracked and shaky to be understandable.

"Leia," Mon Mothma whispered soothingly, suddenly appearing at her side and placing a comforting hand on her arm. But Leia pushed her away.

"Make the jump," she repeated as she stumbled towards the door, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor so that she couldn't see the any of the viewscreens.

But she didn't even need to look at them to see what they would show; her mind was already doing a perfect job of conjuring up the image for her. Leia felt bile rise in her throat as she tried to push the images away, but they were too strong, too vivid and she didn't have enough strength to fight them any longer.

Leia bolted out the door and into the corridor, the image of Luke hanging limp in his restraints never leaving her mind as she rushed towards the only source of comfort that she now had.

.

.

.

Luke waited anxiously as Vader glared down at him, his large, black figure, imposing and terrifying at such a close proximity. Then Vader moved and Luke inhaled sharply, expecting his air to be cut off by a tight, firm pressure around his neck. But that didn't happen. In fact, Vader's movement wasn't directed at him at all. Instead, the Dark Lord gestured to the guards by the wall and beckoned them over.

"Take him back to the cells and have him tortured," Vader growled as they approached. "But no drugs this time."

Then with a swish of his black cloak, Vader was gone and Luke was hauled roughly up off the ground. He struggled against the tight grips of the guards and twisted so that he could catch one last glimpse of the viewport and the stars beyond. There, in the distance, was Home One. All the other ships had now left and he wondered what they were waiting for. Whatever it was, it must be important, but he just hoped that they wouldn't linger too much longer.

_Be safe, Leia_, he thought, trying to project the words out to his friend like he had done that time on Bespin. But he was still too weak from the torture and his reluctance to connect fully with the Force limited his reach significantly. Luke sighed in resignation and despair as he was dragged out the door.

_I will keep my promise, Leia. I will come back._

.

.

.

Leia bolted through the hangar bay doors, her hair flying out behind her, and then came to a stop as she searched for Skyro. He wasn't hard to find - there were two ships in the bay and only one of them was an X-Wing. And there, standing to the side of the starfighter was Skyro, dressed in a flight suit and arguing quite vehemently with a young, ginger-haired pilot.

"Skyro," she called, although her voice cracked midway and dragged her words into a high-pitched whisper.

At the sound of her voice, Skyro turned around and faced her with a smile, although his expression dropped the instant he laid eyes on her disheveled and red-eyed form. He glanced quickly at the pilot to his side and muttered something that Leia couldn't hear. The redhead looked angry but turned away and headed for the doors.

Leia couldn't hold it any longer. She rushed towards Skyro and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. Skyro didn't even hesitate to wind his arms around her small form and pull her close, gently stroking her hair. Leia closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to let the tears fall because she knew that if she let them start they would never stop.

But then Skyro whispered softly, "What's wrong? What's happened?" and her resolve went to hell.

Leia opened her mouth to reply but a sob came out instead of words, and it was quickly followed by another one, although this time it shook her body and made her arms tremble. Skyro pulled her closer.

"L-" she tried, but she couldn't get a word out between the heaving breaths and body-wracking sobs.

"Shh," Skyro soothed her as he continued to gently stroke her hair. "It's okay. It's okay…"

Leia shook her head fiercely. "N-n-no, it's not," she wept hoarsely. It most definitely was _not_ okay. Luke was… gone... and it was her fault! She should have saved him! She should have tried harder!

Another sob wracked her body as the image of Luke lying limp in his restraints flashed to the front of her mind again. No… No! No! No! She curled her fists into Skyro's jacket and let out an anguished scream. If Skyro was taken aback, he didn't show it. Instead, he just pulled her even closer, enveloping her in his warmth and offering her the safety and security she needed. Leia closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. Even with Skyro's soothing presence to help her, it was a couple of minutes before she could breathe properly again without breaking into sobs. She didn't want to leave Skyro's embrace. Every now and then her body would shake slightly and he would run a gentle hand through her hair to calm her down. He was the only friend she had right now. Han was still lost and Luke was… Luke was… She couldn't even bring herself to say it, let alone think it.

Almost as if he had been reading her thoughts, Skyro chose this moment to murmur, "No one's ever truly gone if we remember them."

Leia smiled sadly. "Trying to be philosophical, are we?" she teased half-heartedly.

She felt him exhale in a small, breathy laugh that stirred the loose hairs on the top of her head. "No," he murmured. "Just trying to help."

"Thank you," she whispered, hugging him tight and closing her eyes again.

"You're welcome, Leia."

.

.

.

Luke tensed as he approached the door that lead to the torture chamber. Vader had ordered that he not be drugged this time and Luke had immediately been relieved by the statement. But now he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not. Granted, his first experience with Vader's torture had been without drugs, but that session had been nowhere near as intense as the ones that had followed - and he had been completely under the influence of the drugs during those. And now he was facing the torture again and he felt exceedingly anxious. In a way, the drugs had been good - the torture had still been incredibly painful but the stimulants had given him a detached edge. Then again, they also made him incredibly susceptible to the Dark Side of the Force and that was what Luke feared the most at the moment, so he supposed that a little extra pain might be worth it.

Even still, Luke struggled against the iron grips of the guards as they pressed him closer to the door. Facing torture was no easy thing and it terrified him to no end. He was almost regretting not giving in and joining Vader.

No. He shook his head. That was absurd. He'd rather pain any day over having to submit himself to the ways of the Dark Side.

The door slid open and Luke frowned as two stormtroopers appeared in the doorway, blocking the view inside. They conversed quietly with Luke's guards, then the escorts nodded and stepped back around the corner, dragging Luke with them.

Once the door was out of view, the guards stopped. Luke squirmed a little, testing their grip, but it was still as hard and restricting as ever. Leaning back, Luke rested his shoulders against the cold, grey wall and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down.

But his curiosity got the better of him.

What was going on in the torture chamber and why had his session been delayed? Was it because of another prisoner or something else entirely?

Luke opened his mind and enhanced his senses, drawing on as little of the Force as possible - he didn't want to stray too far and end up in a reunion with the Dark Side. He could sense the two stormtroopers, their minds boring and uninteresting, programmed only to obey their Master, Lord Vader. Luke extended his reach and fine tuned his senses, but he could not sense anyone else in the room. He frowned. That didn't make sense. Unless they were preparing something especially wicked for him... Luke shuddered at the thought.

But then he heard the sharp click of the stormtroopers' boots against the polished tile as they moved out of the torture chamber and into the corridor. But that wasn't all he heard. There was also a soft rustling sound, like fabric against a hard surface… Luke's brow furrowed in concentration. Reaching out with the Force, he sought out the two stormtroopers and, with a nauseous feeling in his gut, Luke realised the gravity of the situation.

It was fabric against a hard surface alright; it was a _body_ being dragged out of the torture chamber and down to who-knows-where. Luke tasted bile in his mouth as he withdrew from the Force's enhanced sight and back to reality. His hands felt clammy and he wiped them on his pants. What if that was going to happen to him? What if this was his last moment?

No. Surely not. Vader wouldn't kill him _now_… Would he?

Luke felt agitated as the guards dragged him towards the door. The last time he had been tortured he had almost died - he had almost _welcomed_ death. But now he didn't want it. Not at all! He knew what he was fighting for now; the sight of the Alliance had given him the strength and the determination he needed to fulfil his destiny.

No, he wouldn't die today. The Empire was still ruling the galaxy with a vicious grip and thousands of star systems were suffering. Even if there was no such thing as destiny, Luke knew that it was his job to save the galaxy by ridding it of the evil Empire and its tyrannical Emperor. Then - and only then - would he allow himself to welcome death. Only after every last trace of the Empire was gone and turned to dust.

The guards pushed him into the room and the door hissed shut.

.

.

.

Luke awoke with a start, his pulse throbbing manically in his ears as he pushed himself up off the cold, hard floor. Blinking back the dizziness that came with the sudden shift in position, Luke looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was.

Grey, grey and more grey.

He was back in his cell.

Luke took a deep, steadying breath and wiped the cold sweat from his brow. His hands were shaking and his pulse was still racing, but otherwise he was fine. More specifically, he had not fallen prey to the Dark Side.

Luke groaned as he pulled himself up onto the bench. His muscles screamed in protest and his arms shook visibly, but he got there - and was pleasantly surprised to find his poncho waiting for him, still folded up at the end of the bench. Luke smiled weakly and laid his head down on the makeshift pillow as he struggled to remember how he had gotten here.

The bridge… The Alliance… Oh, yes. The torture.

It could have been better and it could have been worse. Overall, the lack of drugs in his system had made it an excruciatingly painful experience, but it had also meant that he was able to reach unconsciousness. He couldn't remember how long he has lasted before the pain had become too overwhelming to bear and he had blacked out. He was amazed that they had even _allowed_ him to pass out. The aim of previous tortures had been to wear him down, break his spirit and make him lose his mind by not allowing him to get even a single second of sleep. So, what did them now allowing him sleep mean? Did Vader have another plan for turning him to the Dark Side?

Whatever the meaning of this was, he would find it out later. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep. Luke closed his eyes and let his mind and body relax.

But just as he was beginning to drift off to sleep, the door opened.

Luke resisted the urge to throw his poncho at whoever it was that was now standing in the doorway of his cell. Instead, he blinked and opened his eyes.

And immediately frowned.

"I never expected to see someone of such a high rank in a place as low as this," Luke growled softly. He pushed himself up into a sitting position with a groan and a muttered curse as his back twitched painfully.

"Lord Vader requested that I give this to you personally," Admiral Piett replied, ignoring Luke's taunt and instead holding out a thick, black circular disc.

Luke frowned but took the object nonetheless, turning it over in his hands. It was a portable holoprojector of Imperial make, unlike any holo-device he had used before.

"Why would Vader give me a holoprojector?" Luke asked, looking at Piett with mild confusion.

The Admiral shifted uncomfortably at the incredibly informal use of his Commander's name, but responded nonetheless. "For this, I believe," he replied, holding out a thin, shiny circle.

Luke took it and examined it. There were no markings on the disc that indicated what it was, but Luke assumed that it was some sort of recording.

"What's on it?" he inquired, staring down at the disc and the projector in apprehension. He had a feeling it wasn't anything good.

When Piett didn't respond, Luke looked back up at him and gave him a questioning look, but either the Admiral missed the look entirely or just chose to ignore it. Whatever the reason, Luke sensed that Piett had something else on his mind right now.

Luke leaned back against the wall in a subtle indication that Piett could speak his mind. The Admiral shifted slightly but then opened his mouth to speak.

"It is not my place to ask, but I can't help but wonder why Lord Vader would show so much interest in a young Rebel like yourself," the Admiral said, his gaze calculating and judgemental as it skimmed over Luke's ragged appearance.

"Perhaps there's more to me than my appearance would suggest," Luke responded coldly. He didn't like Piett but he didn't hate the man either. He was an Imperial and obviously a very good one at that, seeing that he had made it to one of the highest ranks in the Imperial fleet aboard the Empire's most feared flagship. But under all that, Luke could sense a basic desire to do good. It was misguided, yes, but it was still there and it did him justice. But Luke just wasn't in the mood at the moment to show the Admiral any decent amount of respect, especially when had just interrupted Luke's first chance to sleep in days.

"Perhaps," the Admiral repeated evenly. His look wasn't quite skeptical, but it wasn't quite believing either.

"Is that all, Admiral?" Luke asked.

Piett looked momentarily affronted at being dismissed by such a lowly prisoner, but quickly regained his composure.

"For now," he replied as he turned to leave, giving Luke one last calculating look before the door swished closed behind him.

With Piett now gone, Luke was free to play the holovid, but he wasn't sure he wanted to. Holding the projector in one hand and the disc in the other, Luke wondered what Vader could possibly want him to watch. He thought over the few possibilities that came to mind but dismissed all of them immediately. Except for one: it had something to do with the Alliance. Whether generally or more specifically, Luke wasn't sure; perhaps it had something to do with a certain dark-haired princess? But whatever it was, it was not going to be good, of that, Luke was certain. The Alliance was his only weakness and Vader was after a new tactic, so why not exploit the enemy's vulnerability in order to break them? It was certainly a good plan, but Luke had already made it through the torture and the space battle; he was most definitely not going to lose now to some simple mind games.

Slipping the disc into the holoprojector, he held his breath, mentally preparing himself for whatever he was about to see. The projector flicked to life and a scene appeared in front of him. Luke frowned as he recognised it: it was the torture chamber. And there, strapped to the machine was… himself.

Luke felt considerably confused.

And then the audio kicked in and he almost dropped the projector as the miniaturised version of himself started screaming in agony. Luke watched in a mixture of horror, fascination and full blown confusion as holoprojector Luke writhed in pain, jerking violently against his restraints.

The recording didn't last long and Luke switched it off as it began to loop over. Looking down at the projector in his hand, he couldn't help but feel considerably perplexed.

What in all nine Corellian hells was Vader trying to achieve by showing him _this_?


End file.
